Japanese intent on changing their fate have begun having plastic surgeries to alter their palms.
The new trend relies on the ancient art of palm reading – also known as palmistry -, the belief that you can tell a person’s future based on the lines on their palms.
Plastic surgeons have reported an increase in patients asking for operations to extend or add lines associated with luck or marriage.
According to a report on the Daily Beast, the surgeries cost around $1100 and are performed with an electric scalpel.
Takaaki Matsuoka, a plastic surgeon at the Shonan Beauty Clinic’s Shinjuku branch in Tokyo, said: “If you try to create a palm line with a laser, it heals, and it won’t leave a clear mark. You have to use the electric scalpel and make a shaky incision on purpose, because palm lines are never completely straight.”
Around 40 palm plastic surgeries have been performed at the Shonan Beauty Clinic alone in the last two years.
The surgery is popular with men and women usually takes 10 to 15 minutes, includes anywhere between 5 and 10 lines on the palm, and takes about a month to heal.
Dr Matsuoka said men usually wish to change lines related to business success, such as the fate line, the money-luck line and the financial line. Women often want to change their marriage line.
