JAPAN: Ear cleaning parlours boom as more stressed Japanese businessmen yearn to relive childhood experiences

Record ID: 462716

  • Title: JAPAN: Ear cleaning parlours boom as more stressed Japanese businessmen yearn to relive childhood experiences
  • Date: 24th March 2007
  • Summary: (L!3) TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 19, 2007) (REUTERS) CORRIDORS OF YAMAMOTO MIMIKAKI EAR CLEANING PARLOUR KOJI AIZAWA, JAPANESE BUSINESS MAN ARRIVING AT PARLOUR ATTENDANT MEGUMI ARRIVING WITH GREEN TEA SOOTHING MUSIC AND PAPER LANTERN TOOLS FOR CLEANING EARS AIZAWA LAYING HIS HEAD ON MEGUMI'S LAP
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA8RUGWKMMSACW8W2MZ2PNVNS6I
  • Story Text: Koji Aizawa is a regular at the Yamamoto Mimikaki parlour in downtown Tokyo and always asks for Megumi, his favourite attendant.
    Megumi swiftly arrives, swishing her light kimono on the traditional tatami -- or straw mats with a welcoming cup of warm green tea.
    He quietly slips his head onto her lap and she begins her work -- scraping around with a thin bamboo spoon and cleaning out the ear wax from his ears.
    This is one of the many and growing numbers of ear cleaning parlours popping around Tokyo these days.
    Normally a part of the services available at traditional hair dressers', these specialised shops have caught on with many stress out Japanese business men.
    "Having my ears cleaned on someone's laps reminds me of my childhood day and it's very soul soothing," said Aizawa after a 30 minute ear cleaning session at the Ikebukuro branch of the Yamamoto Mimikaki chain of parlours.
    Yamamoto Mimikaki's shop manager Koiichi Kawasaki says an average thirty to forty people -- mostly - though not exclusively men and of all ages come to his parlour a day and pay 2,500 yen (22 US dollars) for a thirty minute session.
    One hour sessions include hand and feet massage.
    But most come from the nostalgia of the ear cleaning experience.
    "Many Japanese people had their ears cleaned by their mother as children, so this is nostalgic for them," Kawasaki told Reuters.
    And for those who get the wrong idea -- this parlour is strictly business; no hanky-panky is allowed. The parlour's web page has in bold red letters a warning that "this establishment is not a erotic parlour".
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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