.png)
Host / Kyabakura (Maho Fujimoto)
How the concept of BEAUTY is presented
INTRODUCTION
The definition of or what people consider “beautiful” in people’s appearance varies depending on cultural and social background. Isa (2003) argues that “beauty is not universal, but is culturally constructed by society“ (page 31). Therefore, what’s considered as “beautiful” in western countries can differ from the Japanese concept of “beauty”. Moreover, an appearance can present one’s socioeconomic status. People, especially women expend their money to enhance their appearance and meet the cultural beauty standard.
This page will explore the 5 key features of the Japanese concept of beauty applied to the Hosts and Kyaba-jyo on signboards to examine what is their expected appearance or “beauty”, as well as how is their concept of “beauty” different from other advertisements/signboards.
Light Skin Color / Bihaku (美白)
According to Yamamoto (2020), the trend of bihaku (美白) or light skin color began in the late 1980 which represents femininity and “has established its position as one of the biggest beauty standards among Japanese women” (page 11).
When you take a look at the Kyabakura signboards, all Kyaba-jyo representing the store is light skin color. No was has dark nor tanned skin, but smooth light skin not only on their face but skin that is exposed as well. As one of the biggest beauty standards, all Kyaba-jyo establishes its cultural beauty expectation to appeal to the Japanese customers as “beautiful”.
However, the signboards reveal that this trend of bihaku is not only seen by Kyaba-jyo but also by hosts. As Yamamoto argued that bihaku represents femininity and light skin can be interpreted as innocent and pure, most hosts on signboards also have a lighter skin color. This can be interpreted in two ways. One, their bihaku can show the effort and devotion they put into their appearence. As a host, they themselves are the product of the store. Therefore, showing a high level of beauty standards is a way to demonstrate their professionalism as a worker. Another is to make their targets feel comfortable. Since, they are targeting female customers, instead of presenting masculinity with darker skin which illustrates them as powerful, presenting themselves as a feminine feature with bihaku makes their targeted customers feel more comfortable.
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are also important in contributing to the concept of beauty in Japan. People use makeup to enhance their appearance or strive to meet cultural beauty standards. Isa (2003) states that cosmetics can affect impressions of a woman’s physical attractiveness, but also communicates "a woman's value, sexual desires, availability, or social and professional status" (page 32). Furthermore, Japanese beauty standards derive from the stereotypical association with Caucasians (Yamamoto, 2020, page 15). Therefore, cosmetics are used to establish their facial features of big eyes and sharp noses. The use of cosmetics was again seen in both hosts and kyaba-jyo. Below covers three features that cosmetic was used to enhance and achieve the Japanese beauty standards.
Big Eyes
Most Kyaba-jyo on the signboards has similar shapes of eyes that are round and big. In addition to the shape, they have similar makeup in using mascara to extend their eyelashes, black eyeliner that traces downs and extended out of the outer corner of the eye, and lastly their emphasis on a puffed eye bag. These techniques with cosmetics allow their eyes to appear larger like the Caucasians.
Sharp nose
Sharp noses are seen in both hosts and kyaba-jyo. Although Asian noses are lower than Western ones, people use makeup to establish a face with a high nose. This is conducted by putting darker shading colors on both sides of the nose, and putting highlighted lighter colors on the middle line of the nose. These techniques can be seen through the pictures on their signboards, some even not natural. Again, cosmetics became a key tool for hosts and kyaba-jyo to achieve their expected appearance.
Red Lipstick
Another common cosmetic feature seen in host clubs and kyabakura signboards is the use of red lipsticks. Red lips symbolize femininity as beauty (Andini, Sosrohadi, Fairuz, Dalyan, Rahman & Hasnia, 2022, page 341). Usually, red lipsticks are not often worn because it shows strong femininity but also strong power and confidence. However, not only kyaba-jyo but also many hosts also wear red lipsticks on their signboards. Thus, in the context of their signboards, sexual attractiveness is more emphasized by red lipstick than femininity. The red color on pale light skin attracts attention to the lip, and with its sexual attractiveness, it is as if they are inviting for a kiss. Therefore, in contrast to other signboards or advertisements, the meaning conveyed to the audience is different. Moreover, because of the norm that lipsticks are for women, men with red lipstick are very rarely seen especially on signboards that are presented to society. Therefore, host signboards that break these social norms are what makes them significant and different from other signboards.
The Light Hair Color
As mentioned above, Japanese beauty standards are derived from the image of Caucasians. Although the article only discusses the effect on makeup, it can also be observed in the hairstyles of the kyaba-jyo on signboards present Caucasian features. Many of the kyaba-jyo have their hair dyed to a lighter color or dyed to blond hair. Hence, it is similar to the hair color Caucasians have. Despite the fact that Japanese people with lighter hair are seen frequently today, these hairstyles are more seen in Kyaba-jyo. Out of 51 kyaba-jyo examined on signboards, 33 have light hair color (including light brown). Of the 33 examined, 7 kyaba-jyo have blond hair.
Again, this is also seen in hosts as well. Many of them have their hair dyed to a lighter color such as light brown and 98 of the hosts have blond hair. This demonstrates that while Japanese cultural expectation is to become similar to Caucasians as a beauty standard, kyaba-jyo goes further than makeup or facial appearance to dying their hair to commit to their “beauty”.
Slim Body Line
Unlike in European countries which once included fat women as criteria for beautiful women, in Japan they think that slim women are beautiful women (Andini et al., 2022, page 341).
All of the hosts and kyaba-jyo on signboards representing their store has slim body line. Not one of them has a round or chubby body line. Especially, as also discusses in the domain of types of clothing/attire, hostesses wear tight dresses, these dresses reveal their slim body line. Although host clubs’ signboards are mostly focused on the face, some signboards include their full body. Some hosts of these signboards wear tight pants which emphasizes the slimness of their legs.
The fact that all hosts and kyaba-jyo are slim shows that the slim body line is one of the crucial features of the appearance expected from their customers and as a worker of host and kyabakura.
Realistic?
When examining a picture of a person in a different context such as SNS or a matching app that makes an impression on viewers, the sense of “realness” or “reality” of the person in the picture becomes important. However,
One might also worry that looking too good might make a client seem unattainably lovely - an especially beautiful photo might suggest that it is too good to be true. (Alpert, 2019, page 10).
Thus, an extra or over the presentation of “beauty” in a picture does not lead to a good impression on the viewers but leaves doubts about their appearance. Still, in hosts clubs and kyabakura signboards, strong emphasis and establishment of the concept of “beauty” are presented not only with makeup, hair, and anybody line but with the support of technical editing techniques such as lighting.
As you can see in the pictures of these signboards, all of their faces are clear with smooth skin and has no flaws. It is edited to erase the dark spots, tiredness, and signs of age, creating the ideal “perfect beauty”. Therefore, it may not give a sense of “realness” to viewers. According to Alpert’s argument, this may rather leave a negative impression. However, the observation shows that all host and kyaba-jyo de-emphasize their flaws for “perfect beauty” indicating that they, in fact, create an “unrealness”. This could be one of their strategy to invite customers by making viewers think they are able to meet these “unreal beautiful” hosts and kayba-jyo they are not able to usually.
Summary
The page covered different features regarding the appearence of hosts and kyaba-jyo on signboards to examine their establishment of the Japanese beauty standards. The research revealed that the effort and achievement of their “beauty” are observed in both host and kaya-jyo (men and women) which also indicates their professionalism.
Moreover, the page showed how they present the establishment of Japanese beauty standards. Therefore, they strive to appeal their appearance to Japanese customers. In other words, foreign viewers who have different beauty standards from Japan, may not find these hosts and kyaba-jyo attractive as much as Japanese viewers do.