What kinds of young Japanese women have plastic surgery?

A college student. A pachinko parlor worker. A hostess. An influencer. What do all these young Japanese women have in common?

While not as famous (or perhaps infamous) as a place like South Korea, plastic surgery is not uncommon in Japan among models, idols, and porn stars, and also sex workers and social media influencers.

Some female celebrities spend millions of yen on multiple surgeries, though few admit it.

Which is why it tends to make the news when someone does break the taboo and talk about this industry secret.

On a recent edition of the Abema TV show Hyena of Love Season 5, which often has provocative guests like porn stars, the influencer Hikari admitted to having had surgery costing ¥10 million.

“I’ve spent so much money and time on myself that my expectations of men have become more specific,” the 23-year-old confessed to her fellow guests.

The men on the show wanted to know more details, such as the parts of the body on which she has had surgery. Hikari candidly explained that she’s had surgery on almost her entire body, including her face, nose, eyes, and breasts. She even had work done on her face just three weeks prior.

Another guest on the show, Mai, a 24-year-old pachinko parlor worker, confessed that in addition to surgery to narrowing her forehead, she had also had surgery on her eyes and nose. She said she had a rib transplant and a nose job to make her nose taller. We’re not sure how she rustled up the ¥6 million while working at a pachinko parlor.

Nano, a 21-year-old student at the prestigious Sophia University in central Tokyo, revealed that she had a transplant from her right breast (and despite being a student, somehow had the wherewithal to lavish ¥950,000 on surgery, though this was the lowest amount among the four women on the show).

But the men on the show were most surprised by the plastic surgeries that 26-year-old hostess Rena had had done. As she frankly admitted, her total surgery costs have amounted to a whopping ¥20 million. In addition to the conventional choices of work on her face and breasts, she has also had surgery on her genitals.

These confessions from the four women prompted mixed responses from their male fellow guests, who wondered what it meant about the meaning of beauty and how the women’s future children might respond. On the other hand, if it gave the women confidence, the men seemed to think that was a good thing.

Mai tearfully spoke about her lack of confidence in herself. “Even when people say you’re beautiful, I wonder if they really mean it.” Mai told the others that she was bullied in the past because of her appearance, which prompted her to start plastic surgery. She also confessed that she feels like she wants to stop.

The model Hikari also described how in high school, she felt inferior to her best friend, which led her to decide to have plastic surgery to address her complex.

Inevitably, the female genital surgery made people curious. “I had it done for both reasons of appearance and function,” Rena explained, somewhat enigmatically.