Reasons to be cheerful

It can be quite daunting when you’ve got to be taught to smile again… But that’s what the people of Japan feel they need following the pandemic and three years of enforced mask-wearing. According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and reported by Sky News recently, since the lifting of mask rules in May, many people have struggled to adjust to life without face coverings and smiling lessons have now been made available. Participants say they have forgotten how to smile and feel the need to rehearse the facial expression, the paper reports.

There’s no denying the feel-good factor of a smile, though the old adage of ‘smile and the world smiles with you’ isn’t in fact always true. A study by Hinsz and Tomhave suggests only around 50 per cent of people will reciprocate your smile if you smile at them.