Connect with us

Headline

Japanese Pay $55 Per Hour To Learn Smiling

Published

on

Some Japanese students are now taking classes from professional instructors to learn how to smile after getting accustomed to wearing masks.

Over three years since the pandemic started, the demand for smile coaching services in the country has surged as more people try to get used to exposing their faces in public after the government relaxed its mask requirements in March.

“I hadn’t used my facial muscles much during COVID so it’s good exercise,” Himawari Yoshida, a 20-year-old art student, told Reuters.

Advertisement

Such gap is where smile instructors like Keiko Kawano come in to bridge in order to ensure that Japanese get back their smile after a protracted period of face-masking.

READ ALSO: Two Bankers Arraigned For Alleged N20m Theft

People have not been raising their cheeks under a mask or trying to smile much,” Kawano told the New York Times in early May. “Now, they’re at a loss.”

Students like Yoshida attend smile lessons hosted by Kawano as part of their school’s efforts to prepare students for the working world.

Advertisement

Kawano, a former radio host, runs a company called “Egaoiku,” which translates to “Smile Company,” per Reuters.

She started out teaching smiling at a gym before she transitioned into coaching employees from corporate clients, including IBM Japan, the New York Times reported.

READ ALSO: FG Records N930bn Two-month Fiscal Deficits – CBN

A private, hour-long lesson with her costs 7,700 Japanese yen, or $55, per Reuters.

Advertisement

“A typical smile lesson starts with checking your current smile,” Kawano told Insider. Next, Kawano will show her students the shape of a smile that she calls the “Hollywood smile,” and have them try to mimic it.

“However, I know that the facial muscles do not move as expected,” Kawano said. “We will do exercises to shorten and stretch the muscles of the cheeks and create a beautiful mouth shape.”

For those who want to be a smiling coach like her, Kawano also offers one-day training workshops for 80,000 Japanese yen, per the New York Times.

She told NYT that while her business was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, she still had the occasional client. Her business, however, boomed after the mandatory mask mandates were lifted.

Advertisement

Advertisement
Comments

Headline

Disregard Claim Of Me Bringing Investors To Nigeria – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Published

on

By

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied sending a WhatsApp message claiming she’s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu’s “commendable policies”.

A message had been circulating on Whatsapp alleging that former Minister of Finance has been contacted by President, respected instutitions and investors who congratulated her because Nigeria has finally found a “focused leader.”

Anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is fake – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala debunks news claiming she?s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu?s ?commendable policies?

Advertisement

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Pius Olanrewaju Sworn In As 23rd CIBN President

Reacting via her X handle, Okonjo-Iweala described it as fake. She wrote;

‘’It’s been brought to my attention that another FAKE message has been manufactured and is being forwarded on WhatsApp in my name. I want to make clear that this fake message is not from me. I am pleased that those who know me instantly recognized this as fake.

“Thanks to friends who brought this to my attention. Please be aware that I do not use WhatsApp broadcasts, thus anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is FAKE.

Advertisement

“This is a bad example of the use of social media. I want to warn those in the business of manufacturing FAKE messages, that they will not succeed.”

Continue Reading

Headline

Moment Man Falls 40 Feet Onto Police Van After Climbing Building For ‘Drugs Stash’ [VIDEO]

Published

on

By

This is the shocking moment a man fell 40 feet onto a police car and landed on the concrete road after climbing a building for a “drugs stash”.

The alleged drug dealer was trying to escape from police when he decided to jump from an apartment building in northern Brazil on Sunday night, May 12.

In response to the arrest of a teenager for drug-related offences in Marechal Floriano, the Espirito Santo Military Police launched an operation targeting neighbourhood drug dealers.

Advertisement

Authorities apprehended a 17-year-old youth carrying cocaine as he was making his way to the building to sell it to a 31-year-old man. The officers then had their attention drawn to a noise coming from an apartment building.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Collapsed Roof Injures OAU Students During Lecture

When they looked up at a window on the third floor, they saw two men attempting to escape.

One of the individuals involved jumped out, landed on the rear-view window of the police SUV and quickly ran away. But the escape didn’t work out as well for his 26-year-old accomplice.

Advertisement

In footage captured on a smart phone video, he is seen trying to climb down before losing his balance and hitting his head on the window.

He ended up on the floor beside the police car.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Drama As Portable Jumps Gate To Evade Police Arrest

The unnamed suspect was quickly taken to Dr. Arthur Gerhardt Hospital by the Military Police for treatment of trauma. He was then moved to São Lucas Hospital and handed over to the police.

Advertisement

The suspect will be moved to a nearby jail once he is fit and ready to leave.

During the home search cops seized 295 crack rocks, 45 packages of cocaine, 10 grams of crack and 189 grams of cocaine paste, as well as $116.

The man who was supposedly meeting the teenager to buy drugs was released as cops lacked sufficient evidence to accuse him of actually making the purchase.

Meanwhile the teen admitted to drug trafficking in a logbook and was released to his family.

Advertisement

Watch a video from the scene below.

 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Headline

B-I-Z-A-R-R-E! Man Missing For 26 Years Found Alive In Neighbour’s House

Published

on

By

An Algerian man, Omar Bin Omran, who went missing at the age of 17, 26 years ago following an alleged kidnapping, has been found alive in his neighbour’s house.

According to Daily Mail on Wednesday, Omar was discovered in a hole in the ground within a sheep pen, concealed under stacks of hay.

Omar, one of nine children, disappeared in the city of Djelfa, Algeria, 26 years ago. His family believed he had been killed during the civil war that ravaged the nation in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Advertisement

According to reports, Omar was found less than 200 meters from his family’s home. A 61-year-old neighbour is now in police custody after Omar, now 45, was rescued on May 12.

Footage was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks of the moment that he was found in what appeared to be a hole in the ground, described by authorities as a sheep pen, within the home of his alleged captor.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Convicted Kidnap Kingpin Evans Re-arraigned, Opts For Plea Bargain

The blurry video shows torchlights shining into a pit surrounded by hay as Omar furtively looks up, seemingly in shock at the search party surrounding him, with stray pieces of straw in his hair.

Advertisement

Other images have since been circulated of the bearded man emerging from the hole, thought to be a sheep pen, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children before he disappeared.

According to the Algerian newspaper El Khabar, his dog recognized his scent and stayed near where Omar was held. It was alleged that the captor poisoned the dog to ward the family off.

Omar went missing in 1998 while heading to a vocational school. He was found after the captor’s brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly over an inheritance dispute.

This led Omar’s family to search the neighbour’s house, where they found him. The captor attempted to flee but was restrained and arrested.

Advertisement

 

Tragically, Omar’s mother died in 2013 without knowing the fate of her son. Reports suggest Omar was informed of his mother’s death while in captivity.

A relative said on Facebook: ‘Thank god my cousin was found. Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations.’

Public prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain city of around 500,000 people around 140 miles south of coastal capital Algiers, say Omar will receive psychological care after being rescued as they vowed to get him justice.

Advertisement

‘The Djelfa Attorney General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8 pm local time, it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour, B.A., aged 61,’ they said in a statement.

A court official in Djelfa was quoted as saying: “Two days ago, on 12 May 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office received, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, a complaint against an anonymous person claiming that the complainant’s brother, Omar bin Omran, who has been missing for about 30 years, is in the house of one of his neighbours, inside a sheepfold.”

Following this report, the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.

READ ALSO: [FULL LIST] BET Awards 2024: Burna Boy, Asake, Others Bag Nominations As Drake, Nicki Minaj Lead

Advertisement

He added: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.”

Officials have promised the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime’ will be tried with ‘severity.’

The suspect, a civil servant, lived alone but was often seen buying enough food for two people. A neighbour recounted to Algerian TV station Bilad that Omar’s mother died without knowing her son was so close by.

Questions have arisen about why Omar did not call for help during his captivity. Some reports claim Omar said he was unable to call out because of a spell cast by his captor, while others suggest his psychological state may have prevented him from seeking help.

Advertisement

The case may be among the world’s longest-running kidnapping cases. Eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in Meyers, California in 1991 and remained missing for over 18 years after she was captured by Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Dugard was kept in depraved conditions and was subjected to extreme sexual abuse, having two children by Phillip Garrido, and later said she adapted to sympathising with her captors to survive.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version