Japan woman mocked for ‘ugly’ looks, resists cosmetic surgery, transforms with make-up
Ridiculed as a child, woman takes more than 30,000 selfies in 13 years on fashion journey; says it was like a ‘scientific study’
A 50-year-old Japanese woman, who was mocked for being “ugly” as a child, has shunned cosmetic surgery and spent 13 years taking more than 30,000 selfies to study make-up, skincare and fashion.
The ridiculing left Kozue Sakurada with deep emotional scars, but her persistence has inspired countless people online.
A male classmate once stared at her and repeated the word “ugly” to her face 10 times.
Other boys even made up a parody of a children’s song to mock her large nose.
By her early twenties, the trauma was so intense that if she saw someone covering their mouth to laugh on a train, she assumed they were laughing at her and would get off at the next stop in embarrassment.
The turning point came at the age of 37, after a heartbreaking break-up. Her then-boyfriend once looked at her and said: “If only you could be a bit prettier.”
Although she began trying to change her appearance to suit his preferences, about six months later, he still broke up with her.