- Title: JAPAN: Japanese women celebrate pregnancy with nude portraits
- Date: 2nd November 2009
- Summary: COMMUTERS PASSING BY SPEAR'S PREGNANT NUDE POSTER
- Embargoed: 17th November 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA2ZTMV5A36VGWRGCVBPVV5ZXP5
- Story Text: Pregnant Japanese women are flocking to photo studios to have their pregnant bellies photographed to celebrate their bodies.
Thirty-one-year-old Keiko Iida is nine months pregnant and she is one of the many mums-to-be, who has visited maternity photo studio "Ixchel" in Tokyo.
Iida decided to visit the studio after seeing TV reports on pregnant Japanese women taking nude pictures at a local photo studio.
She initially posed shyly showing only her belly, but as the all-female staff at the studio helped her relax, Iida finally posed nude for the camera and said the experience was worthwhile.
"I wanted to take the photo for myself. Also, I'm expecting a baby girl and I wanted to look at the pictures with my daughter in the future when she gets pregnant," Iida told Reuters.
With full make up and a variety of poses, customers at "Ixchel" pay around 35,000 yen (368.2 U.S. dollars) for a studio photo shoot, which takes less than two hours.
Owner of the studio Natuko Takada says she created the studio for expectant mothers who want to be photographed beautifully just like the celebrities.
"When I was reading a magazine in a hospital, I cane across a nude photo of a foreign pregnant woman touching her belly with a warm expression on her face. I was so touched by the photo, it made me want to take my own 'maternity nude', but couldn't find a place to do it and that's why I decided to have my own studio," said Takada.
Takada says the studio used to have less than 10 customers a month when she first opened the studio last year, but the number of customers had skyrocketed in the recent months -- with more than 70 customers visiting the studio in June.
More and more maternity magazines in Japan have featured "maternity nudes" with full-page magazine spreads showing pregnant women posing like Hollywood stars.
One of the popular Japanese maternity magazines "Nina's" says the idea of pregnancy amongst Japanese women has changed over time.
"Compared to the past, more women see pregnancy as a special occasion. I think that the happiness that comes from pregnancy is what's really pushing this 'maternity nude' trend," said Satomi Kawaguchi, Chief Editor at "Nina's", who added the trend is a positive sign for Japan -- nation with the lowest fertility rate in the developed world.
Three years ago, a poster of a nude and pregnant Britney Spears sparked concern in Japan before it was displayed in Tokyo's subways because it was considered "too stimulating" for young commuters.
In Japan, the fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, rose to 1.37 in 2008, up 0.03 points from the year before but still far from the estimated 2.07 needed to maintain a population.
Japan's fertility rate remains among the lowest in the developed world and compares to 2.12 in the United States and 1.84 in Britain. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.