The question of Japanese bush is one that preoccupies much of our waking life.
Too much or too little? For women who obsess about shaving almost every follicle elsewhere on the slender bodies, the bush is often an oasis of relatively unkempt hirsute charm: allowed to bloom and grow. It’s thus sometimes a shock (pleasant or not) to encounter women who trim, wax or fully shave down there (paipan), even though this is very common elsewhere in the world.
But what about the guys?
Panasonic is suggesting that more and more men in Japan are seriously grooming their bodies, including their chest hair, pubic hair and even their butts.
The Panasonic ER-GK60-W Men’s Body Trimmer has proven a hit, selling out its initial batch of 10,000. In something of an industry-first in Japan, the trimmer is specifically aimed and marketed at men who want to groom hair on their chests, armpits, groin and butts.
An online survey in 2016 of 3,000 men found that 35% of men under 35 groom in some way and even 15% of men in their fifties. This represents a sizeable consumer demographic that brands like Panasonic are keen to exploit.
Another interesting question to ask is where this trend has come from. Is it the influence of pornography, where the main performers are always immaculately groomed (and with gym-toned bodies to boot)? Or the next stage in the male beauty market that has been growing for years?
