“Care Beauty” for Seniors Spreading in Japan

Saitama, Feb. 5 (Jiji Press)–So-called care beauty, which involves providing older adults with makeup, hand care and light aesthetic treatments at nursing homes and other facilities, is spreading across Japan, aiming to improve seniors’ quality of life and encourage their social engagement. The services have led to “more smiles among residents and higher satisfaction throughout facilities,” said Satoshi Yamagiwa, chief of Mirai Project Inc., which operates schools to teach caregiving skills and beauty techniques for the elderly. As care beauty is expanding steadily, the Japan Wellness Therapist Association, a nonprofit based in Osaka, a city in western Japan, holds more than 100 seminars a year, including on hand care sessions for older adults. Mirai Project’s Tokyo Beauty & Care Academy opened its first campus in Tokyo’s Harajuku district in 2018. As of January this year, it operates eight campuses across Japan. At the academy, students learn how to interact with people with dementia, apply makeup to soften the appearance of wrinkles and age spots and provide aesthetic treatments suitable for sensitive skin. About 20 students took part in a practical training session at a nursing home in Saitama, a city north of Tokyo, last November. A 91-year-old woman said the treatment “felt good,” while an 88-year-old man said his hands “felt smooth.” Ayane Niitsu, a 25-year-old certified care worker who took part in the session, said she began studying care beauty after seeing its effect on her grandmother. Her grandmother had been reluctant to attend day care services, but applying eyebrow makeup herself helped lift her mood, Niitsu said. “I realized beauty can become a source of motivation for action.” Mirai Project also provides on-site beauty services to nursing homes. Usage rose from 206 facilities in fiscal 2022 to 448 in fiscal 2023 and 532 in fiscal 2024. As people age, declining mobility often makes it difficult to continue makeup and skin care routines they once maintained. Yamagiwa said the appeal of care beauty lies in “enabling older adults to keep doing what once felt ordinary.” “It brings positive changes not only for users, but also for their families,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]