While home-use spa style devices are quickly picking up steam in the in the US, women in Japan have been amassing these electric beauty gadgets for years.

Items like high-tech steamers, massage devices touted to stimulate collagen production, and even scopes and sensors that rate your skin's moisture level and tone (the better to monitor the effectiveness of your latest million dollar skin cream) have long passed from curiosity to commonplace.

"We like having the latest things and have a keen interest in beauty," said Manami Okamoto, a PR rep for Panasonic Electric Works Co. Ltd., as a way of explaining why such products are a hit with women in Japan.

While the name Panasonic may globally be associated with stereos and the like, in Japan the manufacturing giant also produces some of the country's best-selling grooming gadgets. The company's "Night Steamer," a volleyball-sized gizmo that emits fine nano-particles of vapor to moisturize skin and hair overnight, sold an impressive 150,000 units in less than a year.

According to Okamoto the appeal of these products lies in their multi-tasking ability: they work while the busy women who own them do something else, like sleep, take a bath, or watch TV.

Despite their beautifying claims, such gadgets are not peddled along with cosmetics and creams at swish department store counters. Rather, they grace electronics store shelves along with such plebeian household goods as blenders and handheld vacuum cleaners-hardly a pampering experience and not a free sample in sight.

To remedy this, Panasonic Electric opened the Salon de Esthe Jeune in the Panasonic Living Center-a public showroom in a glistening glass downtown shopping and dining complex. Here would-be customers get to try out the brand's latest gadgets, an experience that is part tutorial part facial treatment. The personal assistance and instruction helps make the mysterious, and potential intimidating, contraptions seem less so. In fact such showrooms abound in Japan (everyone from Sony to Toto the toilet manufacturer has one), which might help account for the general national comfort level with the latest technology.

According to Okamoto, visitors are most excited about the Ion Steamer, arguably the most advanced facial steamer on the market. It alternatively baths the face in minute particles of soft, cloud-like steam and cooling mist and, at about $320, is the most expensive in the Panasonic line. However there are also more unconventional devices, like a rolling massager that mimics the gentle slapping massage routinely practiced by estheticians in Japan (designed to produce a lifting effect) and an ultrasonic pore-cleaning device complete with conductive gel (same stuff used in an ultrasound). Much to my surprise, the massager, when applied for three minutes to one side of my face, did indeed create a leaner, more acutely sloping cheek -- but unfortunately for me, the effect lasted only lasted for the day.

A full 90-minute counseling session at the salon (which costs $15) begins with a microscopic complexion analysis -- one of those panic-inducing ultra close-ups that reveal emerging wrinkles, irregular texture, and embarrassing facial hair.

Also revealed is a bittersweet vision of skin care to come, as the double-edged sword that is technology simultaneously reveals unseen problems while it offers to fix them.

Read about the newest American spa trend coming out of Japan.

The new Las Vegas Aria Resort and Casino is the first spa in America to have a "ganbanyoku." Is this something to get excited about? Judging from the photo above, it looks a little painful.

But this spa treatment is extremely popular in Japan, where the word translates roughly to "stone sauna." Unlike traditional saunas that rely on extreme temperatures (over 150F and upwards of 175F), ganbanyoku are heated to a manageable 120F. The slabs of smooth stones, upon which beauty seekers lay draped in towels or cotton pajamas, gradually and thoroughly heat the body. Copious sweating is the natural result. In contrast to sticky, post-work out sweat, however, this "clean sweat" is believed to rid the body of accumulated toxins.

Ganbanyoku have been popular in Japan for years and a lot of major hotels there have them. A few boutique spas have also cropped up, like Tokyo's fashionable Magma Spa, which uses lava pebbles from Mount Fuji. In addition to the sweat factor, the lava stones emit far infrared rays and negative ions, purported to create a bevy of positive effects from improving circulation to increasing metabolism. A typical "lava bath" at Magma lasts 60 minutes, with three 15 minute turns on the rock beds followed by 5 minute water breaks in a cool down room.



Since opening in 2006, Magma Spa has treated over 20,000 customers. Of those, about 20% become regulars, visiting 2 or 3 times a month, says press representative Kimihiro Mogi. "The mania for ganbanyoku started brewing about six years ago, I think, shortly after the trend of germanium baths begin to die down. In the last 15 years the Japanese media has really been playing up the theme of beauty and wellness, which is a huge factor in current consumer trends," continues Mogi.

Thanks to this hyperactive media, the average beauty-conscious Japanese consumer is less concerned with general terms like diet and anti-aging as she is with specifics like "basal metabolism" and "moisture renewal."

According to Momoko Gonohe, spokeswoman for the Hilton Odawara seaside resort and the only Hilton property to have a ganbanyoku, the idea for the stone sauna came from the northern Tohoko region of Japan. More specifically, from the famous Tamagawa natural hotspring located in a remote and particularly volcanic area. In addition to therapeutic waters, the surrounding rocks have also long been considered to have curative properties-thus inspiring the custom of visitors lying on straw mats next to the steaming, open-air baths.

While Japan may be gaining a reputation for over-the-top beauty practices, spending huge sums of money on salon treatments is still generally looked down upon, which partly explains the appeal of ganbanyoku. Since the experience doesn't require a therapist or expensive products, a session with the stones is relatively inexpensive (averaging about $20 for an hour).

Meanwhile, the simple design of most stone saunas-stone floors and wood plank walls-suggests a sense of natural well-being, rather than luxury.

An occasionally emotional Rina Bovrisse, along with her lawyers, offered new details of her case against Prada Japan at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday.

The 36-year-old Japanese national, who has worked internationally in the luxury business for over a decade, announced that her lawsuit will be joined by two other "former Prada Japan employees who received the same harassments."

Bovrisse is demanding a public apology from Prada, a new company guideline against harassment in the workplace, and compensation (amount still undisclosed) for psychological trauma and legal fees for all victims.

"I am here to take a stand for Japanese women who have been victims of harassment and discrimination at the workplace," said Bovrisse, whose business card now reads "Fashionista Feminista."

Mrs. Bovrisse has alleged that Prada Japan described a number of female employees as "aged, ugly, fat, bad body shape, bad teeth, disgusting, and not cute," and pressured them to resign. She says the company fired her last month after she complained about the harassment.

The court case, set to begin May 14, follows a three-part labor tribunal that ended in a stalemate last month between both parties -- and not in a dismissal of the allegations as reported by Prada Japan, say her lawyers, Yoshiki Kojima and Takeo Kawamura.

The legal duo was also quick to address any concern that Bovrisse's motivations are purely monetary. Kojima stated that during the labor tribunal discussions, Prada Japan had offered to pay Bovrisse 10 million yen in severance but that his client had been fighting for a reinstatement and a public apology.

Whether Bovrisse will get any of the above remains to be seen. Given that a trial will allow both sides to call witnesses and could last a year, there could be a lot more drama to come.

Meanwhile, read about another recent high-profile lawsuit.

Japanese designer Nozomi Ishiguro, who worked for over a decade at Comme des Garcons before setting up his own label, is known for his ethereal, over-the-top looks. Yet as the models paraded the candy colored, shredded and voluminous knits that made up his Fall/Winter 10 collection, all eyes were on their eyes.

A heavy underlining of white between the lower lids and the thick, doll-like lashes placed well below gave the models a look that suggested dazed, or dead. Given that the title of the show was "Ghosts," we're going with the latter. Ishiguro insisted, however, that these were friendly spirits. Indeed the bright purple and pink hues that masked the upper lids and the jewels fixed along the eyebrow line were anything but malevolent. MAC make-up artist Mariko Tagayashi executed the look.

With the white eyeliner-made famous in Japan by the "yamamba" look five years earlier-it was hard not to recall images of the tanned, panda-eyed teenage girls once found on the streets of Shibuya. Ditto the bright colors. Meanwhile the jewels, used to decorate mobile phones, fingernails and just about anything that will hold glue, and the fake eyelashes seemed a riff on the trend-setting neighborhood's current culture.

More playful than critical, the look seemed a nod to youthful experimentation and self-decoration-as well as a reminder that our style choices come back to haunt us.

Marshmallows, cheesecake, soups and soft drinks that promise firmer skin? Welcome to Japan!

Collagen has long been applied from the outside in for fuller, younger looking skin. But in the past few years the Japanese have been hoping it can work the other way around. There, legions of women are eating and drinking the protein in hopes of achieving a skin plumping effects.

First came the supplement drinks -- petite vials of collagen-rich liquid meant to be swallowed along with breakfast. One of the original varieties, Fracora 500 (created by Kowa), packs in 10,000mg of fish collagen in a single serving and has sold a mind-boggling 55,000,000 bottles since its 2004 debut.

Shiseido has a popular version too, called The Collagen. All of the above are sold at the local drug store or online in individual bottles (for an extra boost) or in cases for daily consumption. At roughly $3 a serving, it's not much more than your daily latte.
But what if you could get your latte and your collagen in one? This was the line of thinking that led to the current mania in Japan for "collagen enhanced" food.

Supermarket and convenience store shelves have become stocked with everything from juices and yogurt drinks to marshmallows and cheesecake spiked with the precious (though questionably effective) stuff.

But despite many health and beauty experts stepping in to debunk the benefit claims, the mania continues. Why? "Why not?," is the typical response, just so long as it doesn't do any harm. After all, you were going to reach for those marshmallows anyway, so why not feel like they might have a positive effect?
Restaurants, meanwhile, have turned the trend into a meal.

A quick search on GuruNavi (a Japanese online restaurant guide, the name is short for "gourmet navigation) turns up over two dozen collagen-themed restaurants in Tokyo. Most are located in fashionable districts like Ginza, Roppongi, and Nakameguro.

Harunohi, a collagen restaurant that has now grown to chain status, features a "beauty" lunch set (for under $10). Along with a plate of fresh udon noodles topped with steamed farm fresh vegetable and a soft boiled egg, the main dish is a piping hot bowl of collagen soup. The women flocking to these stylish joints aren't just sucking it up in the name of beauty-the rich, salty broth goes down like a hearty chicken soup on a cold day.

With winter around the corner, restaurants are gearing up to do brisk business in collagen hotpot stews with chunks of pork and chicken. Pigs feet, a traditional delicacy of the Okinawan islands, has likewise come into otherwise unexpected vogue.


The blogosphere has responded to the trend with do-it-yourself collagen recipes from amateurs and celebrity cooks alike.

Want to know how to make that collagen cheesecake yourself? (Here's the spoiler: just add a packet of dried collagen powder to your standard recipe.) On that note, however, the whole fad starts to make sense -- it beauty advice that makes us feel good about our food and actually encourages us to eat more cheesecake.

- By Rebecca Milner

Rebecca Milner is an American journalist and trendspotter living in Tokyo. She reports for StyleList on beauty, fashion and style trends in Japan.