fiBona

The fibona Around Beauty Meetup is an event in which a variety of innovators in beauty, both internal and external, gather and have exchanges at S/PARK. The theme of the third event was “Japanese aesthetics called MORI (盛り) and manufacturing to realize it,” where we discussed the relationship between monozukuri (manufacturing) and the evolution of MORI (the effect applied to pictures of faces using makeup and image manipulation) unique to Japan.

In addition to researchers at the Shiseido Global Innovation Center, attendees from a variety of companies and universities involved in beauty and aesthetics assembled at S/PARK for the third Around Beauty Meetup. First, in groups of three, participants introduced themselves with keywords that What are some of the things you have emphasized more recently? We selected posts on social media that appeared in searches using the hashtags #盛り (MORI), #デコレーション (decoration), and #デコ (deco) to serve as examples and had participants think back on recent experiences in their daily lives where they felt this way. Laughter filled the room as participants introduced themselves with humorous personal anecdotes.

Once the participants warmed up, our guest speaker, Yuka Kubo, took the stage. The word MORI, the theme of the session, became popular around 2002 when girls of high school age began to use the term "moripuri" to describe how their appearance transformed in photos taken in "purikura" photo booths.　Ms. Kubo is currently researching this phenomenon from a scientific standpoint.

Since her time in graduate school, Ms. Kubo has wanted to illuminate the Japanese sense of beauty, and through her studies, began to approach beauty from an engineering perspective. She was particularly interested in the forms of beauty peculiar to Japan, and the Japanese artforms of ukiyo-e (paintings and woodblock prints) and "bijin-ga" (depictions of beautiful women) attracted her attention first. Ms. Kubo remarked that as she studied the geometric characteristics of these artforms, she found that deformation techniques were commonly utilized.

“In the course of my research, I came back to the modern age and looked at the cover of a magazine popular among young girls. When I looked closely at the three models on the cover, I thought, ‘Wait a minute. They all look eerily similar, don’t they?’ Although they were completely different people, they all looked alike. I thought, ‘Diversity is characteristic of all living organisms, so the fact that they look so similar must be due to artificial processing.’ That’s when it became clear to me that when looking at paintings and photographs of Japanese women throughout history, there is a persistent theme of deformation that appears,” said Ms. Kubo, reflecting on the beginnings of her research.

Until last year, Ms. Kubo had been conducting research at the University of Tokyo Graduate School and other institutions, but has since become independent as a leading researcher of “Cinderella Technology,” publishing books and continuing her research while communicating with various people and institutions. “We’ve named the collection of techniques women use to transform their original looks to create a new identity ‘Cinderella Technology,’” she said.

The conversation then moved on to a presentation on research into the concept of modern MORI. “I had been quantitatively analyzing the position of the parts of the face in photos and purikura prints, but there were many things I couldn’t quite figure out. So, I actually went to meet and interview the girls at the center of the MORI movement themselves. When I’d asked them why they wanted to apply this sort of deformation to their photos, to my surprise, the main answer I received was “to be more like myself.” I wondered why everyone wanted to wear a similar style of makeup, but it was actually that they were expressing their originality,” said Ms. Kubo. “Purikura takes practice,” said the girls, when they were asked to actually demonstrate how they use the machines. Ms. Kubo watched as they tailored the shots in accordance with the characteristics of each machine, and when it came to editing the eye makeup, it became apparent how they created their own unique styles by cutting and pasting on different types of false eyelashes. The audience listened with great interest to the presentation, which incorporated more of Ms. Kubo’s fascinating experiences as well as a chronological breakdown of her previous research results that demonstrate the way in which MORI changes depending on the media environment at the time.

Next was a panel discussion with Ms. Kubo and two researchers from the Shiseido Global Innovation Center: Tomo Osawa and Mayuri Tashiro (affiliation at the time of the event). In response to Osawa’s question, “Why is this practice of deformation so popular in Japan, and could it spread to other countries in the future?” Ms. Kubo replied, “I think it’s because we place high value on playfulness. In Japan, you can see this even in karakuri ningyō (mechanical dolls of the Edo period), which can be regarded as traditional robots. Unlike Western automata, which are more realistic, karakuri ningyō are intentionally made so you can see the internal clockwork motors and enjoy their movements. Recently, cosplay has also become popular in some parts of the world, and the fact that people can appreciate this kind of “crafted” visual appearance more than the appearance we are born with, could be attractive to some people.” Conversely, when Kubo raised a question about the difference in awareness of natural skin in Japan and other countries, Tashiro commented, “The way people perceive bare skin differs from country to country, and I personally believe that those differences are related to self-esteem and the education that shapes it. Bare skin can also have imperfections, so some Japanese women seem to be focusing on bringing back their normal complexion by using primers, foundation, and of course, skincare products.” In this way, the discussion flourished about what kind of “standards” should be observed in developing cosmetics for girls for whom trends are constantly changing and differ from country to country.

After that, participants again formed groups of three and engaged in a dialogue in which they freely discussed their impressions, questions, and insights following the presentation and panel discussion. At the end of the session, each group was asked to share their ideas, and there were comments such as, “MORI might already be happening in virtual reality.”

Although both the speakers and the participants still had more to discuss, the session was brought to a close and participants were given the opportunity to freely chat and network with one another over food and drinks provided by S/PARK Café. The participants chatted with those who they didn’t get a chance to speak to during the session, had more in-depth discussions with the same people, and had the opportunity to ask Kubo and the other panelists additional questions. It became a place where everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and actively engaged with one another.

Thus, the third Around Beauty Meetup came to an end. The unique Japanese MORI aesthetic can be seen as a culture of “creation” in the sense that one can enjoy creating and DIYing their own personal image. Perhaps this was an opportunity to think about just that.