Japanese need to take 'smiling' lessons as COVID restrictions are lifted? Japanese people are signing up for “smiling lessons” as they get used to taking their masks off in public now that the

government has downgraded the threat posed by coronavirus. ‘Local authorities and companies have been offering classes since last year in anticipation of the rules being relaxed and masks no longer..'

‘Local authorities and companies have been offering classes since last year in anticipation of the rules being relaxed and masks no longer being mandatory, but business is booming since risks associated with the virus were reduced to the same level as the flu on Monday.

“We are extremely busy now because people want to be seen smiling again”, said Miho Kitano, owner of the Smile Expression Muscle Association. “Japanese people have been wearing masks for more than three years now and some say they have almost forgotten how to smile”.’