Eyes have

Eyes have it in Japan

TOKYO (AFP): The operation lasts between five and 10 minutes, but its success is guaranteed and changes the patient's life forever -- a few snips around the eyes and they look rounder, more western.

One of the best known and richest surgeons specializing in the art of eye transformation is Fumihiko Umezawa, who works out of Jujin Hospital and sees some 20,000 Japanese a year, mostly students and office workers.

It is the most popular cosmetic surgery in Japan and the operation consists of creating an artificial fold over the eyelid.

While round eyes are hardly exciting in the west, large numbers of Japanese women visit clinics to get them, wanting, says Umezawa, to look like Madonna or Brooke Shields.

"Previously, tradition was that women should be reserved, modest and not draw attention to their appearance. But today, things have changed. Japanese are more open and think more about beauty," said Umezawa, who has performed some 30,000 operations in his 40-year career.

"In old Japan, small was a female synonym for beauty -- a small face, small eyes, small mouth were the conventional criteria. But as Japan became more open, things changed. Now the Japanese think that big eyes are more expressive, more lively, more seductive," he said.

The operation costs around 100,000 yen (US$960). "After years of experience, it takes only about five to 10 minutes," Umezawa said.

According to estimates by the Japan Society of Aesthetic Surgery, of which Umezawa is president, between three and five percent of women in major Japanese cities are resorting to cosmetic surgery.

Another popular operation is enlargement of the chin, which, among Japanese, is sometimes absent. That costs between 200,000 yen and 300,000 yen, is simple, and takes about 10 minutes to perform.

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