日本流行"鍼灸美容"
Forget cosmetic surgery. The ancient treatment of acupuncture is gaining new popularity as a beauty secret in Japan about 1,500 years after it first came there from China.
As aesthetic sessions increasingly go organic or employ traditional remedies, women at the "Beauty World Japan" exhibition this week lined up to try acupuncture, long known for its health advantages.
Inserting tiny needles into faces, boosts natural facial healing powers, says therapist Takeshi Kitagawa.
"This is not a medical or surgical procedure," said Kitagawa, acupuncture therapist and owner of Yojo spa.
"We use the healing powers that a person's body naturally possesses, and within the general trend toward a more 'natural beauty' our acupuncture is very well accepted."
Japan is the world's number two market for beauty products and services, with sales estimated at over $15 billion last year alone.
Acupuncturist licensing began during Japan's Meiji Era, about 130 years ago, and Kitagawa says his clients, mainly in their 30s, are increasingly pinning their hopes on the treatment, seeing cosmetics or facelifts as pricey and not as healthy.
"It's different from plastic surgery, it doesn't have the risk of failure. Besides, it uses the innate power of human body to create beauty, and that's the reason I like it," said Rie Hayashida.
Japan has an estimated 40,000 registered acupuncturists and over 150 schools, mainly focused on traditional uses.
別再想着去整容了！約1500年前由中國傳入日本的古代“鍼灸療法”目前作爲一種美容祕訣在日本再掀新潮流。
如今美容界越來越推崇有機美容和傳統美容法。上週在日本舉辦的“美麗世界美容展”上，女性朋友們紛紛排隊嘗試鍼灸美容。鍼灸療法的健康功效久負盛名。
據優可水療館老闆、鍼灸師武北川介紹，面部鍼灸可提高面部肌膚的自愈能力。
“不屬於外科手術或醫學治療的範疇。”
“我們藉助的是人體天生的自愈能力。鍼灸美容符合‘自然美’這一流行趨勢，大受人們青睞。”
日本是全球第二大美容產品與服務市場，僅去年一年的銷售額就超過150億美元。
日本的鍼灸師執業許可始於約130年前的明治天皇時期。據北川介紹，他的顧客年齡大都在30多歲，因爲覺得化妝品和整容手術價格昂貴且不利於健康，所以寄希望於鍼灸美容。
林田理惠說：“鍼灸和整容不同，沒有失敗的風險。而且它是利用人體天生的能力來達到美容的目的，所以我很喜歡。”
據估計，日本目前有4萬名註冊鍼灸師，以及150多所鍼灸
Vocabulary:
aesthetic：pertaining to a sense of the beautiful or to the science of aesthetics（審美的，美學的）
medical：pertaining to or requiring treatment by other than surgical means（內科的）
pin hopes on:把希望寄託在……
