Riyo Mori made international headlines on May 28, 2007 when she was newly crowned Miss Universe: the most beautiful woman in the world. Ms Mori was following in the footsteps of her co-patriot Kurara Chibana, who came in as a close runner-up for the title in the 2006 contest.

While the attraction of these Japanese ladies is clear to all, it is interesting that both represent a new expression of beauty that is a far cry from the traditional stereotype of the demure Japanese lady clothed in a kimono.

Setting the Universe alight: Riyo Mori and Kurara Chibana

These two representatives of Japanese femininity seem to be exhibiting a more western style of "beauty" perhaps reflecting the real changes that are happening in Japan: In fact the figures of Japanese females have been changing for the past half-century!

"Today, the average Japanese woman's hips, at 35 inches, are around an inch wider than those of women a generation older. Women in their 20s wear a bra at least two sizes larger than that of their mothers, according to Wacoal [a lingerie manufacturer]. Waist size, meanwhile, has gotten slightly smaller, accentuating many young women's curves.

The average 20-year-old is also nearly three inches taller than she was in 1950, according to government statistics, and the average foot has grown by nearly a quarter of an inch." reports TheStar.com.

Nutritionists claim that this is due to the shift from a traditional Japanese diet of fish, vegetables, and tofu towards a more Westernized diet with greater emphasis being placed recently on red meat and dairy products. Moreover, this change in the typical Japanese figure towards a more Western shape may even be stimulating a greater sense of pride in what's now being referred to as "Japanese beauty".

"Japanese beauty" is a concept that the manufacturers of cosmetic products have started pushing heavily since the Spring 2006 launch of Shiseido's TSUBAKI hair care line. Indeed the shampoo market charts the evolution of this trend from externalized, western role models of beauty towards more home-grown varieties.

For most of the last two decades, Unilever's brand Lux Super Rich has dominated the shampoo market, defining the Japanese notion of "aspirational glamour" through the use of Hollywood stars such as Demi Moore, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Natalie Portman and Penelope Cruz in a string of advertising campaigns. Lux was able to enjoy sustained success by drawing upon these inherently non-Japanese representations of beauty.

Then in 2003, the Japanese manufacturer Kao took an opposing stance with its release of Ascience Shampoo. Kao selected Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang as the brand's spokesperson. This was in line with Ascience's brand positioning of having a special treatment formula that included Chinese herbs, specifically selected for Asian hair. The first TV commercials for Ascience featured Zhang striding out confidently onto a stage, with a gaggle of western blonde women looking on in envy as the assembled crowd breaks out into applause at the sight of Zhang's beautiful shining, straight, black (and yes, Asian!) hair.

Kao's revolutionary marketing strategy had very clearly distinguished Ascience from Lux with its message of "Asian glamour".

Next Shiseido then went one step further with the launch of Tsubaki Shampoo. Tsubaki employed the slogan "For Japanese women's hair" and signed up an array of Japanese divas to represent the line of haircare products.

Out with the west: Tsubaki's six Japanese stars promote "Japanese beauty"

The Tsubaki media blitz covered Tokyo in a sea of camellia red (Tsubaki is Japanese for the camellia flower, and it also doubles as Shiseido's brand logo.) Follow-up promotional activities for Tsubaki have featured an ever-growing number of different female celebrities, but they all remain exclusively Japanese. It is also interesting to note that while Shiseido clearly communicates its primary message of "Japanese beauty", the commercials also show shots of hourglass figures and feminine curves so bringing this concept closer to the western norms of beauty and sexiness.

Coming full-circle, Unilever's Lux has reacted to the trend by introducing Japanese supermodel Ai Tominaga as the brand's first non-Caucasian talent for one of the shampoo's variants.

So as Asian and Japanese beauty becomes a emerging feature of Japanese society, it is interesting to ponder this question. How much of this is trend is due to Japanese women becoming physically closer to the Western norms they have always aspired to and in the process becoming more confident? And how much is a reflection of developments of a more psychological type as the same women, helped on by marketers, have come to appreciate their innate beauty, without the need to aspire to western role models at all?

For the next installment, tune into Miss Universe 2008!