Learning to smile again

The Japanese are so cute. They have such peculiar, and somewhat unique problems. Consider the latest. After three years of compulsory mask-wearing in Japan, residents are resorting to lessons to relearn how to smile again! 

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper recently ran an interesting article that says that since the lifting of the wearing of the compulsory mask, the Japanese have been having difficulties in resuming the habit of smiling. After such a long social hiatus hampered by face masks, the Japanese are unable to smile naturally and feel the need to re-learn this important facial expression. With the mask becoming the norm in Covid times, people had fewer opportunities to smile and many developed a complex. And now they need “smile coaches” to help them to get started again: That moving and relaxing the facial muscles is key to a good smile has been largely erased from Japan’s memory. Funny, no?

Many a “school of smiles” have sprung up all over the country.

And pray how do they teach pupils how to smile? Nothing very complicated really. Each participant is given a hand mirror. And coaxed to relax the facial muscles, slowly but consciously, resulting in a smile. Efforts of many end up in a smirk initially, and they require more egging on to progress to a smile. The hand mirror becomes a self-evaluation tool: The mandate is to practice, practice and practice more until the student is satisfied with his or her natural smile.

The task of the “smile trainers” doesn’t end just there. They constantly emphasise to students that smiling not only leaves a good impression on others and facilitates communication, but also has the effect of making an individual feel more positive. They encourage the school attendees to spend time pro-actively smiling for their physical and mental well-being. But it is not as easy as it sounds. A majority of the students are women — the pandemic years led to a decrease in smiling opportunities, resulting in an increasing number of women now feeling self-conscious about their smiles. The smile classes typically begin with facial stretches to relieve tension which seems to have subconsciously built up in the masked environment.

Methinks the problem is not unique to the Japanese alone. Staff at most airlines in India too have shed their masks after a long long time. And they too seem to have forgotten how to smile. An airline that one frequents quite often (just because they are usually punctual and on-time) has staff that just never smile. The staff at check-in is stern and poker faced. No welcome smile. No chit-chat. No interaction beyond the ticket, the id and the bags. Tick-tick-tick, job done. Next passenger, please. It is all very “professional”, matter-of-fact, dry and distant. The ground handling staff are equally stiff and starched. Scan the boarding pass, and let you go. No eye contact, no good-morning or good-afternoon, no conversation, and yes no smile.  The air hostesses are the worst however. You ask for some water. It is mechanically handed over. You try and ask what’s available on the food cart, and you get a glare plus a well rehearsed reprimand to see and scan the menu in the front seat pocket. The food service too is strictly sans a smile. Hundred per cent inert.

Hotel staff these days are no better. With the hospitality sector booming like never before, training new recruits to perform basic chores itself is becoming a big headache for the chains. Teaching them to smile is not part of the curriculum for sure. At a five-star hotel last week the entire breakfast service seemed to lack any happiness till the chef came out of the kitchen. He was warm, welcoming, interactive and friendly. The mood and the atmosphere in the entire coffee shop suddenly lightened up with the sunny, smiling presence of just one man. He smiled. Customers smiled back.

Research shows that children smile an average of 400 times per day, compared to the average happy adult who smiles 40-50 times per day and the typical adult who smiles only 20 times per day. Smiling is a terrific mood booster that helps the human body release cortisol and endorphins that reduce stress. Yet the importance of a smile in interactions, both social and professional, is not always fully understood or appreciated. The airlines and hotel staff referred to earlier need to urgently enrol in a “school of smiles” just like the Japanese.

Back to the Japanese. Smiling is actually core to Japanese culture and their intrinsic politeness as a nation. And there is no better example of that than the ever-helpful, ever-smiling neighbourhood policeman – the Omawari san, who will walk half a mile with you to get you to your destination rather than just give directions, and leave only with a warm smile and a dutiful bow.

A smiling policeman? Only the Japanese can manage that wonder.

The writer is managing director of Rediffusion