10 Extreme Japanese Beauty Rituals

Face-shrinking masks, skin-munching fish, 100-degree baths: We test some of the most outrageous beauty treatments in Tokyo. Even among the Asian community, Japanese women are known for their impeccable grooming, pulling off fresh, flawless skin and silky, bouncy waves in 95 percent humidity. But achieving perfection requires serious maintenance (JAL flight attendants get special makeup training). "If a Japanese woman has to be at work at 9:30 a.m., she'll wake up at 6:30 to do her hair and makeup," says Naho Moriyama, Marie Claire Japan's beauty chief, and my lifestyle guru for the next week. Can a low-maintenance American pull it off?

My feet are dangling above an outdoor kiddie pool/koi pond hybrid. Hundreds of tiny, black eellike "doctor fish" are swarming below, waiting for me to dip my toes in so they can suck away my dry skin with their toothless jaws. When I volunteered to test-drive Tokyo's fabled beauty treatments, I imagined authentic shiatsu massage with a Zen garden view, not guppies-gone-wild pedicures. But here I am at Oedo-Onsen Monogatari, a spa-themed amusement park next to Tokyo Disneyland that doubles as a date destination (it's open all night). My desire? A complete Japanese beauty overhaul.

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