Cool Japan: Smiles

■ Cool Japan: Smiles

NHK Cool Japan "Smile" edition.

"Funny smile"

I was surprised to hear that Drunkard's smile is cool.

This may be because there are fewer natural smiles.

There are many ways to express laughter in Japan.

"Fine smile" smile "Bashful smile" ugh

"Fake laughs" and "fake smiles"

"Chuckling" and "snickering" are so funny

"Sniffle" hehe, etc.

The fact that there are so many words means that he is conscious of using them in different ways to create humor.

However, this nuance is only conveyed among Japanese people, and foreigners see it as an "unnatural smile," which can lead to misunderstandings.

It may be necessary to communicate with foreigners while keeping in mind that they may not have understood the meaning of my laughter.

"Smile Class"

Learn to smile. Look like a serious Japanese person.

We practiced the shape of the mouth, and in Japanese emoticons for emails, the eye shape is used to express laughter.

In Europe and the United States, it is represented by the shape of the mouth.

I wonder if Japanese people are not good at laughing with their mouths shaped right.

Laughter is an expression of emotion, and it shows feelings such as happiness, pleasure, and good feeling on one's face.

If this is the case, then Japanese people, who do not like flashy expressions of emotion, may not be good at this at all.

By practicing how to laugh in this way, you can train muscles that you are not used to using, and eventually achieve a natural smile.

For foreigners, emotions come first and then a smile follows, but for Japanese people, a smile is more of a guide to expressing emotions that are usually suppressed.

"Smile Calendar"

A smile is powerful. And a smile is contagious.

This is exactly the effect that has been maximized.

The smiling faces on the calendar represent people who have been affected by the disaster, to a greater or lesser extent, strong people who continue to smile despite their hardships.

Seeing those smiles every day gives me the strength to do my best with a smile again today.

This calendar is a device for producing such smiles.

During the Meiji period, Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) wrote a piece called "The Japanese Smile."

Japanese people smile in ways that Westerners cannot understand. They say it is a matter of etiquette, customs and courtesy.

He writes that the reason Japanese people smile even when they are in pain is because they are considerate of others.

It probably hasn't changed in over 100 years.

I feel that smiling, reducing stress, and giving strength to others is especially important now during these difficult times due to COVID-19.