What do you think about high-tech surgical procedures popular in Japan, such as Lasik, hair removal, breast augmentation and liposuction?

Why have surgery, with all the risks involved, just to possibly change somebody's opinion of your appearance?

I must admit I had not noticed the breast augmentation but I think the desire to look artificial is so strong that cosmetic surgery will be a big growth industry in Japan. In time there will be procedures to make girls look like Kitty-chan.

Korea is already the global leader when it comes to cosmetic surgery like the ones listed here. This multi trillion dollar business is only becoming popular in Japan now.

Step1:CREATE A MARKET by making people feel guilty about their looks, body odour, bad breath, obesity, hair loss, greying hair,wrinkles...you name it. Check out the numerous ads on televisions as evidence.

Step2: LAUNCH A PRODUCT cosmetic product, surgery, treatment. The interesting point here is that most of the payments are planned in instalments so that the customers are not ripped off at one go.

For ages mankind has tried to fight vanity for some occult reason, nothing new. Its the same garbage packaged and repackaged from time to time. Animals are wiser in this aspect :)

Ironically we are still not prepared to handle an major outbreak like Ebola.Virus's are evolving faster than humans lately. Several cancers are still not curable.

What a wierd world we live in.

Some of the grubby little operating rooms in private clinics where these procedures take place are very low-tech, contributing to post-op. infections and resultant scarring, especially during breast surgery. Improvement needs to be made, and the 'industry' regulated to a greater extent than it is now, to protect patients.

I have no interest in cosmetic surgery, and would never consider it.

But I am so, so glad I opted for lasik after a lifetime of struggling with contact lenses and glasses. To be able to walk about outside unaided, able to read street signs, not get lost and not get knocked down by that bus I didn't see coming, is great.

You need to make sure to go to a reputable clinic of course - no cheap, back-alley place - and be prepared to pay. But my medical insurance covered around a third of the cost, so that in all it worked out cheaper than a pair of bifocal, slim-lens spectacles that would need replacing in a couple of years.

"This multi trillion dollar business is only becoming popular in Japan now."

No it isn't. Japan has been an Asian leader throughout the postwar era. Female family members of the old South Vietnamese regieme during the war famously used to come to Japan for cosmetic surgery.

There are webages that show "before and after" photos of Japanese celebrities. Amazingly unrecognizable in so many of the cases.

Agree with cleo, Lasik is great. Every young adult with vision issues should get it if they have any interest in sports, scuba diving etc, etc.

Most of these products make people feel insecure about natural phenomenon, like aging: getting wrinkles, thining hair, etc., then selling them a product to "cure" it. 15 years ago a drug was discovered that caused males to become "excited", and so a new disease was invented, "erectile disfunction". Sales were great the first year, but within two years sales had fallen 70%. So the problem wasn't "erectile disfunction", just changing interests with age.

If only orthodonture would catch on here!

Tessa: Well said. And funny.

I like the Rola ads on the trains.

Cleo

did you do the Lasik thing recently?

GW - it was a while ago now. I have been contact-lens and spectacle (apart from reading glasses)-free for 7 or 8 years. I can recommend it, but you need to be under 60; they won't attempt it if there is any sign at all of cataracts or any other potential problem.

Cleo, what would happen if you had cataracts? I am still in my 30s, but already have them. I would love to get Lasik some day.

Don't think there is a generic answer to those questions, very much varies from person to person. I think many would like to box ppl in favour of cosmetic procedures into the 'vain' category but its not that simple.

Imo if something is bothering someone to the point its ruining their life then all options have to be looked at and none are 'bad' per se. Lets take hair removal as an example: lets face it hairy backs for blokes (and women, I think!) will most probably never be fashionable (yes even in Georgia, Turkey or Armenia) so if you realise at 18yo that you have something others don't have (i.e a hairy back) and its bothering you then go for it and have it removed, don't ruin your life cause you don't want to show "you're vain".

All procedures listed above aren't purely cosmetic, its a bit more complicated than that imo.

ThonTaddeo - When I had my lasik done, they stressed quite strongly that You Can't Have Lasik If You Have Cataracts. I didn't/don't, so I didn't ask any further. I understand the technology has made great strides in the past 5 years or so however, and that now you can get for example both myopia and presbyopia fixed in the one operation; so they might have solved the cataract problem, too. You would need to ask someone who knows what they're talking about.

If you are eligible for lasik, I would recommend the sooner, the better. Get thee to thy local lasik surgeon!

You can get a free examination to see if your eyes are suitable to have Lasik done on them. The answer may be no, but it's worth checking.

The examination is quite detailed, considering that you are potentially going to have your eye flaps cut open and be burned with a laser, it is reassuring.

Thx Cleo, I am not 60 but headed there haha

i think anout these high tech procedures all the time because only japan has them.

When I had my lasik done, they stressed quite strongly that You Can't Have Lasik If You Have Cataracts

Cleo, thanks for the response. Those capital letters are a disappointment, because I Do Have Cataracts. Still, next tim I'm at the eye doctor's, I'll ask. My vision isn't exactly gone yet, but it would be nice to have eyesight good enough to use in sports while my body is still young enough to be an athlete!

ThonTaddeo, like fxgai says, it's worth checking. All my info is from many years ago, things might be different now. The wonder of scientific progress, and all that. 'Ordinary' eye doctors tend not to be too keen on lasik, it means they get to write fewer prescriptions for lenses. You need to ask a proper lasik eye doctor.

Lasik and/or cataracts, I hope it works out for you.

I always thought cosmetic surgery was silly until I learned that it can help to fix deformities that can be physically limiting, career or relationship limiting, and make it extremely difficult to find clothing that fits properly. In a culture where one is occasionally naked in public in the course of normal activity, this takes on an additional layer of importance.

If it's performed safely and responsibly, it genuinely improves people's lives, and it doesn't hurt anyone else, I don't see any reason to complain.

I think breast augmentation is a great idea for the ladies.

But not too much so they end up with a ridiculously huge pair of hooters.

More like puchi-seikei type augmentation to make nice globe shaped breasts.

http://youtu.be/DbWTTR8qwK4 Rhinoplasty this Dr is on Netflix "plastic surgeons of Beverly Hills"

If done by an excellent surgeon these elective cosmetic surgeries can be a good investment. Your best investment is yourself. Going to SK and hoping to save a few dollars may not be the best investment.

Interesting that the leading cosmetic surgical procedure in the US by far is breast enhancement. In Japan/Korea, it's eyelids and rhinoplasty. Not sure what that says about the countries...

No thank you. I require a robust legal system to allow me to sue the frikking pants off some doc in case I go blind, small chance as it is. That happens here I don't want some goof bowing and apologizing when I can't even see him.

The only thing I WOULD get is Lasex. And that requires much research, which isn't really available here.