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Body hair as a high school exchange student 2018/4/20 22:44
Hello!
My name is Muhammed and I live in Germany!My parents are Arabs.
I'm 16 years old and a high school student and interested in an exchange program..My aunt lives in Japan so I have a guest family.
But now I have a question..
I have some hair in my face (small beard) and my eye brows are a little bit fat and mono.
I do have a few body hair like arm and leg hairs too.Even small back hairs.They're visible because my skin is white and my hair is black.
My height is 1,76m.

So now my question is that if something is wrong with me if I'd go there?Because I heard that Japanese people in general don't have any body and face hair.Should I start shave them?In general I don't shave my beard.I only shave armpits and pubic hair...
Sorry for these stupid questions but I'm worried if something can go wrong..I'm really interested in Japan and it's culture and want to integrate myself there.

Thank you for reading!
Yours sincerely Muhammed
by Muhammed (guest)  

Re: Body hair as a high school exchange student 2018/4/21 11:47
Seen plenty of men with beards. I think you are looking for a issue that doesnt exist.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Body hair as a high school exchange student 2018/4/21 11:49
Facial Hair: Check the rules of high school you want to attend. Some schools may have codes for dress and hair/beard.

Other Hairs: I don't think the school codes delve into body hairs, so it is up to you to shave or not. Most Japanese don't have much body hair, so you may get a lot of attention if unshaven. You can probably hide the body hair under clothing most of the time.

by umeboshi (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Body hair as a high school exchange student 2018/4/21 14:53
I'm really interested in Japan and it's culture and want to integrate myself there.

You won't. No matter how hard you try, no matter how proficient in Japanese language you are, no matter how deep your expertise in Japanese culture is, you won't. Almost 2 decades here is speaking. Better ask you aunt. She'll tell you. Japan is not Europe or USA. There is no "integration". Better put that in your head to avoid a major disappointment.
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Body hair as a high school exchange student 2018/4/21 17:34
I think the OP (who is not a native English speaker) wanted to say he wants to go with the flow when he wrote "integrate", and, hey, how many teenager do you know who doesn't?

Muhammed, I assume you are a boy, and believe me, a lot of Japanese boys have LOTS of facial/body hair. But it's just that Japan has had a tradition of having your facial hair shaved when you go to the barber, and that counts for little boys too.

I have to say that I've never seen a senior high school student in Japan wearing a mustache or beard. They tend to learn how to shave while in their junior high school years. So if you don't have a problem with shaving, that might allow you to catch up with their style.

Now, I don't know what year you're going to transfer to, but when boys enroll in senior high school at age 15, the majority of them have big fat eye brows. Then they start thinking they're "uncool" or whatever and starts trimming their eye brows. But to me, a lot of that trimming looks ugly, and once you trim your eye brows, it will be slightly difficult to grow them back because you'd suddenly look different.

So my suggestion is to go ahead and start school with your natural eye brows. Then if some new friends decide to style you, then you can think about going with the flow. And then you can use photos of your old eye brows as a joke.

As for body hair, the majority of high school boys leave it natural. You can also discuss about your facial/body hair with a barber when you get your haircut in Japan.

I hope you find a great exchange program!
by Uco rate this post as useful

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