More Japanese men choosing hair removal to look their best

Asahi Shimbun

25-04-2025

Signaling a notable shift in traditional grooming norms, hair removal is rapidly growing in popularity among Japanese men.
The trend is reflected in recent market data, which shows that the industry has nearly doubled in size over the past five years.
According to the Hot Pepper Beauty Academy, a research institute operated by Recruit Holdings Co., a major staffing and human resources services provider, the hair removal market in 2024 is estimated at approximately 63.5 billion yen ($436 million).
This marks a near doubling from 37.7 billion yen in 2019, before the pandemic. Although the market dipped by 8 percent on year in 2020, it has grown steadily each year since 2021.
Notably, while the female segment has shown signs of contraction, demand among men continues to rise.
Although the surge gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, the motivations behind men's increasing interest in hair removal are varied and nuanced.
A 2021 survey by Men's TBC (Tokyo), a leading men's beauty and grooming salon chain, polled approximately 20,000 customers on their reasons for seeking hair removal.
Among the top responses: 28.2 percent said shaving was a hassle, while 13.4 percent pointed to the persistent blue shadow that remains after shaving.
Takahiro Oyama, spokesperson for the TBC Group, noted, 'Many clients said that wearing masks made them more aware of their facial hair, prompting them to visit.'
While mask-wearing certainly contributed to the trend, the continued rise of male hair removal even after COVID-19 was reclassified as a Category V infectious disease raises a deeper question: what's driving its lasting appeal?
According to Oyama, a key factor is the growing interest among men in personal grooming and aesthetics. 'More men, especially younger generations, are choosing to invest in themselves,' he explains. 'What was once a relatively uncommon practice is now gaining broader acceptance across society.'
Last year, a sociology seminar team at Ritsumeikan University investigated the rise of the male hair removal trend.
The project was initiated by team member Sawa Yonekura, who had started visiting a women's hair removal salon a few years earlier.
However, shortly after paying the contract fee, the business went bankrupt, prompting her to question why she had believed that 'hair removal was essential to be beautiful.'
The team surveyed 107 men and women in their teens to 30s through street interviews and social media. More than half had undergone hair removal, with men accounting for 30 percent of that group.
Tomoyuki Abe, who collaborated with Yonekura on the survey, said he had also considered visiting a men's hair removal salon. His turning point came during online university classes: seeing his face repeatedly on screen during the pandemic made him increasingly self-conscious.
Even now, taking selfies is part of his daily routine. He and his friends use BeReal, a filter-free social media app, which prompts users once a day to share an unedited, real-time photo with their network. Its emphasis on authenticity, Abe said, made him want to 'look clean and fresh.'
Reflecting this rising interest, hair removal advertisements now appear frequently across social media platforms. In the survey of 107 participants, 101 said that seeing an ad was what initially sparked their curiosity.
Kimio Ito, professor emeritus at Kyoto University and an expert in gender studies, commented on the growing self-awareness among younger generations.
'More men are shifting their focus from how society sees them to the kind of person they want to become,' Ito said. 'They're beginning to break free from the traditional ideal of the 'macho man.' Beyond hair removal, we can expect increasingly diverse ways for individuals to shape and express themselves.'