The Asahi Shimbun newspaper recently ran an interesting article that says that since the lifting of the wearing of the compulsory mask, the Japanese have been having difficulties in resuming the habit of smiling. After such a long social hiatus hampered by face masks, the Japanese are unable to smile naturally and feel the need to re-learn this important facial expression. With the mask becoming the norm in Covid times, people had fewer opportunities to smile and many developed a complex. And now they need “smile coaches” to help them to get started again: That moving and relaxing the facial muscles is key to a good smile has been largely erased from Japan’s memory. Funny, no?