Creating Double Eyelids in the Japanese Colonial Era of Korea (1910–1945)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the origins of the double-eyelid procedure in Korea during the Japanese colonial era. Through Google (www.google.com) and Naver (www.naver.com), the archives of newspapers and magazines were searched. The following topics were identified: ideal eyes in the Japanese colonial era, creating double eyelids using a non-surgical method, the first case of a double-eyelid operation in a Korean woman, and the presumed first case of a double-eyelid operation in Korea. By 1935, possessing double eyelids had come to be recognized as a symbol of modern beauty. An article suggested that women with small eyes consider surgery to transform their “single eyelid” into a “double-eyelid.” It endorsed plastic surgery as a marker of “worldly progress.” In 1939, a magazine featured an advertisement for Aihon tape, which was promoted to create “double eyelids.” Oh Yeop-ju, the first Korean hairdresser, underwent double-eyelid surgery at an Ophthalmology Clinic in Japan, sometime between 1927 and 1932. She is celebrated as a beauty icon who broadened the beauty horizons of Korean women. After returning in 1933 with a “very beautiful” appearance resulting from successful double-eyelid surgery, she received a special invitation to the Kong Eye Center in Seoul, which opened in 1937. Upon hearing her detailed account and examining her eyelids, the clinic began offering double-eyelid surgery. The technique for double-eyelid surgery was introduced from Japan and disseminated through a medical journal and to patients who had undergone the procedure in Japan.