Japanese Notion of Beauty: Bihaku

Japanese Notion of Beauty: Bihaku

Bihaku is a Japanese fashion style where the aim is to have white skin or a general lack of pigment, to achieve ideal irojiro, or fair skin. In the 21^st century, conventionally practicing skin-whitening, is a part of Japanese female beauty. Japanese women whiten their skin is a cosmetic practice that has taken on a cultural stance on the lives of Japanese women in Japan. These women are actively partaking in the social class system as they whiten their skin. In history Japanese women that were of light skin complexion were considered to be higher in the class system, leaving them desirable, beautiful and fair, whereas women who had darker skin complexion were considered to be on the lower part of the class system, because darker women are women that spend much of their time in the sun and were considered to be workers, or laborers, and undesired.

In Japan, the desire for white, blemish, and spot free skin has been around for a long time, but recently the popular method of bihaku is using cosmetics that stop the production of melanin. This cultural practice has taken stride within the Japanese culture mainly among some middle-aged adult Japanese women. Bihaku or skin whitening is a practice that is mostly confined to women in Asia, like Japan for example, the practice of bihaku is to keep skin supple and young looking. Japanese women are surrounded by western brands that enable the practice of skin whitening, such as Chanel, Avon, L’Oreal, Lancôme, Yves Saint-Laurent, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, and Revlon. The practice of bihaku contributes to the blossoming area of Japanese cosmetics market, and also skin whitening contributes to the image of beauty that Japanese women strive for.

Japanese women partake in bihaku, as a cultural practice of beauty, in order to maintain their youth, and femininity, a femininity that is enabled now in the 21^st century by western products. This form of beauty is also practiced within the black female population as well, for example the you tube documentary where black females practice using skin whitening cosmetic products, to become lighter because of being taught by society and culture that lighter skin is the more beautiful form of skin, lighter skin. This form of beauty takes on a role that plays on class, and social stance in the Japanese culture.

Mowbray, Nicole. n.d. “Japanese girls choose whiter shade of pale.” The Observer http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.helin.uri.edu/us/lnacademic/frame.do?reloadEntirePage=true&rand=1273224258173&returnToKey=20_T9286372905&parent=docview&target=results_listview_resultsNav&tokenKey=rsh-20.764422.4684527328 (Accessed May 7, 2010).