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By Hina Suzuki<\/p>\n
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Summer is peak demand season at a men’s grooming clinic in Japan, where appointments are becoming \u200charder to get as scores seek to rid themselves of body \u200chair for relief from brutal, sweltering heat.<\/p>\n
“When I was thinking about what to start with, hair \u200bremoval felt like the most obvious, visible choice,” said Yuki Kubo, a 24-year-old office worker wearing safety glasses for the fourth treatment of his legs at the clinic in the Japanese capital.<\/p>\n
Removing body hair was a New Year’s resolution made \u200cwith friends, he said, but \u2060the resulting smooth surface made him feel and look cleaner, besides eliminating his sweaty discomfort.<\/p>\n
Facial hair removal was once the \u2060most sought-after treatment at Gorilla Clinic, which has 23 outlets nationwide, but demand has now grown for other body areas, said Hiroyuki Ota, director of the branch \u200bin Tokyo’s \u200bposh Ginza district.<\/p>\n
The trend is gathering pace \u200bas more Japanese men shed \u200ctheir resistance to wearing shorts, once considered appropriate only for children or the beach, but little else.<\/p>\n
Amid record summer temperatures, even the Tokyo metropolitan government took its long-standing no-tie, no-jacket “Cool Biz” initiative a step further this year, promoting lighter clothing to help staff battle the heat and save energy.<\/p>\n
Summers have grown increasingly \u200ctorrid in recent years, with temperatures reaching \u200ban all-time high of 41.8 degrees Celsius (107.24 degrees \u200bFahrenheit) last year.<\/p>\n
Japan’s largest beauty-focused \u200bonline booking and review platform, Hot Pepper Beauty, said just \u200cover a quarter of the men \u200bit surveyed this year \u200bhad been treated for lower-leg hair removal over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n
That kind of demand makes it tougher to score an appointment at \u200bthe Ginza clinic, Ota \u200csaid, adding, “It was rare for appointment slots to fill up completely when \u200bthe clinic first opened 11 years ago.”<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Hina Suzuki, \u200bEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Clarence Fernandez)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n