“People started realizing that they hadn’t used their cheek or mouth muscles very much … And you can’t just suddenly start using these muscles. You need to work on them.” NYT (Gift Article): Japan Is Unmasking, and Its Smile Coach Is Busy. “After three years of Covid-era masking, some Japanese people feel their facial expressions are a bit rusty. Enter Keiko Kawano, smile instructor.” (I doubt this is really a widespread trend. But I’m a news curator and I haven’t smiled since 2016, and even then, it was more of a smirk. I don’t even feel comfortable using the smile emoji.)