Reuters reports that Japanese citizens are increasingly seeking professional help to learn how to smile again after wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

At Keiko Kawano’s company Smile Education, the demand for teaching has more than quadrupled in the past year. Kono told Reuters.. Our customers range from sales professionals who want to strengthen their approach to local government.

In Keiko Kono’s recent class, a dozen students at Tokyo University of the Arts held mirrors to their faces and stretched the sides of their mouths up with their fingers to practice how to create a smile. https://t.co/rbPfSM7FlH 1/4 pic.twitter.com/pk4I2HrZgu

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 5, 2023

Kawano and some customers say the reason for such a surge in demand is the loss of facial muscle memory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when almost everyone in Japan wore masks for several years.

“I didn’t use my facial muscles much during the pandemic, so it was good exercise,” 20-year-old student Himawari Yoshida told Reuters.

Kawano, a former radio host, began giving smile lessons in 2017. She trains her other 23 Smile coaches in the use of “Hollywood Her Style Smile Techniques” and scores students’ practice.

According to the report, the one-on-one lesson costs 7,700 yen per hour, or about $55. (Related: Japanese lawmaker claims declining birth rate is due to lack of ‘love ability’)

Wearing a mask was already a staple of Japanese culture even before the COVID-19 pandemic, with many citizens wearing seasonal masks in public to combat the spread of diseases such as hay fever and influenza. was wearing The coronavirus has only heightened the importance of this practice.

Many Japanese still wear masks. A poll by public broadcaster NHK in May found that more than half of Japanese people were still wearing masks as much as they were two months ago. The requirement to wear a mask was finally eased in March. Even about a quarter of art class students who took Kawano’s smile class wore masks during the class, Reuters reported.