| The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
| They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
| In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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| ※ この和訳はあくまでもボランティアの方々による一例であり、翻訳の正確さについては各自判断してください。 もし誤訳（の疑い）を発見した場合には、直接ページを編集して訂正するか翻訳者連絡掲示板に報告してください。 |
Japanese throng to Korea for cut and tuck 2002,3,3
Weekly Playboy 3/12 By Ryann Connell
Considering the somewhat ugly past between Japan and South Korea, there would probably be plenty of snickers in Seoul upon learning that planeloads of Japanese are thronging to the Land of Morning Calm to make themselves more beautiful.
And that's exactly what's happening, according to Weekly Playboy (3/12).
Cosmetic surgery is bigger than ever before, with guys just as keen to go under the knife as gals.
But, perhaps the most surprising aspect of the plastic surgery boom is that large numbers of those seeking a cut and tuck or nose jobs are heading to neighboring South Korea to get the job done.
"More than anything else, the appeal of South Korea is the price. Where you're faced with a bill for several hundred thousand yen to do a few spots in Japan, you'll still have plenty left over by going to South Korea for the same work. And that even includes airfare and accommodation," Tetsuo Shu, a cosmetic surgeon from the Daikanyama Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Tokyo, tells Weekly Playboy.
It seems cosmetic surgery in South Korea can be up to 65 percent cheaper than the same procedures if performed in Japan.
And there's little difference in quality.
"Being operated on overseas means you can maintain your privacy," Shu says.
"South Korea's cosmetic surgeons are world class, which is probably why so many people are in a hurry to get over there."
Weekly Playboy notes that women's magazines have started devoting reams of pages for specials about plastic surgery trips across the Sea of Japan.
"I've heard that cosmetic surgeries and aesthetic counselors have popped up in areas around hotels preferred by Japanese customers," the editor in chief of a women's magazine tells Weekly Playboy.
But, as has so often been the case in relations between Japan and Korea, some warn that heading overseas for a remake can be an invitation to disaster.
"Japanese and Koreans have fundamentally different ideas regarding the role that cosmetic surgery should play. And that can lead to trouble," says Masanori Takanashi, a cosmetic surgeon.
Where Japanese generally prefer to conceal the fact they've gone under the surgeon's knife, it's apparently a matter of pride across the way, with some Korean mothers bragging that they paid for a daughter's boob job as a graduation present.
"That's why Korean surgeons always make sure that it's easy to tell their patients have undergone cosmetic surgery. Japanese don't like others to know that they've had the surgery performed. Then there's the language barrier, where you've always got to worry about whether the surgeon knows exactly what you're looking for," Takanashi tells Weekly Playboy as he warns of a plastic surgery meltdown.
"If you're going to get cosmetic surgery, you should do it in Japan. I wouldn't recommend anybody going to Korea."
