Japan: Every dog has her dayBy Ryann Connell
May 7, 2006
Ugly women have never had it better before in Japan, according to Shukan Gendai, which argues the business of being a "busu" - the local parlance for an aesthetically challenged woman - is booming.
Japan's Ugly Ducklings are transforming if not quite into beautiful swans, then at least into geese that lay golden eggs.
"Busu no Hitomi ni Koishiteiru (I'm in Love with the Dog's Pupils," the story of an ugly woman capturing the heart of a good-looking man, is proving to be a huge ratings winner for the Fuji TV network. It's based on a real-life tale written by broadcast writer Osamu Suzuki and his wife, Miyuki Oshima, who is part of Mori Sanchu, an all-girl comedy trio who's biggest joke is that they're all ugly.
Fuji may be pleased at the program's progress, but it was lucky to get on screens in the first place.
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"When I first suggested this program, there was a huge outcry within the company," Keiichi Shigematsu, the program's producer, tells Shukan Gendai. "And that was exactly what I wanted. I decided that rather than get a pretty actress to play the lead and use make-up to get her to look ugly, I chose to employ an ugly actress and make her the subject of a Cinderella Story."
Tomoko Murakami was the woman chosen to play the lead."When they first offered me the role, I asked them whether the 'dog' referred to in the title was supposed to be me. When they told me it was, I was a bit shocked, but then they said that I'd be playing the lead and a heroine, I was hooked," Murakami says with a laugh. "I'd be delighted if this drama helps people to realize that the good in people arises regardless of their looks."
Plenty of people across Japan already seem to have cottoned on to the idea. Katsuya Takasu, head of the Takasu Clinic chain of cosmetic surgeons and author of the book "Busu no Kabe (The Wall of Ugliness)," says that it's now "in" to be ugly.
"In an interesting experiment I carried out, I took the faces of 10 ugly women, shuffled them and used them to create a composite photo of a single face. I did the same thing with 10 beautiful women. And you know something, the face made from the supposedly ugly women was much more beautiful. What it all meant was that beautiful women's faces were only average, and anybody who differed got called ugly," Takasu tells Shukan Gendai.
"Ugly women get subjected to discrimination and prejudice, but actually they've often got plenty of hidden talents that only need a little coaxing to bring out. That's why we wrote about breaking through the wall of ugliness."
Shigeru Kashima, a prominent scholar of French literature, agrees with Takasu.
"A beautiful inner self has a direct correlation with a person's appearance. There are very few good-looking people who are also interesting people. Good-looking people are nothing more than average. Their inner selves are like their looks - average. Recently, people have started to regard people's characters as important factors in deciding whether to pursue a relationship, which is why more guys are now turning their attentions toward ugly women," the scholar says.
Nobuhiro Motohashi, a scholar of far more salacious studies -- Japan's sex industry -- also concurs that when it comes to looks, it's better not to have them.
"Nowhere is it easier to see the benefits of being with an ugly woman than sex. Sleep with a beauty and she's almost always frigid, over-passive and struggles to climax. For a variety of reasons, sex with a beautiful woman almost always disappoints. There's a tendency with beautiful women to want to try and remain beautiful even when they've taken off all their clothes," the sex expert says.
"But ugly women are awesome! They give their all, almost as though they never want to let you go. They haven't got any pointless pride so they go at it with total liberation. Beautiful women who've grown up getting everything handed to them on a plate are almost invariably dogs when it comes to sex."
Adding his two bits to the same argument is Taka Kato, the doyen of male adult movie actors with over 5,000 credits under his belt (in more ways than one).
"Beautiful women always have sex on the assumption that they are doing the man a favor," Kato tells Shukan Gendai. "But, sleep with an ugly woman and the attitude she brings with her is one of gratitude. She puts in more effort, sort of as a way of saying, 'Thank you for choosing me.'"
Copyright 1999-2006, Mainchi Daily. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Ryann Connell is a Staff Writer and Senior Desk Editor for the Mainchi Daily News. No content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission. Please contact us via the link below for re-print and syndication policies or visit Mainchi Daily at http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/ for more information on Mainchi stories. 
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