Shaving differences in Japan

Japan takes people watching to an entirely different level with their onsens (hot springs) and sentos (public baths). When I go, I usually try to avoid looking at anyone else, but sometimes I can't help noticing things. Like the fact that almost all Japanese women shave their arms. I saw a girl doing it last year at the sento and it shocked me. I couldn't (and still can't) imagine why anyone would want to do that. I don't even notice arm hair, so it seems really unnecessary to me. I had a roommate who used to shave her arms in the living room in front of the TV.

Because most Japanese girls shave their arms, Japanese people often look at my arm and ask to touch the hair. It's white-blonde, so it's sort of hard to see, but I have hair on my arms if you actually look. I think it's interesting to see what people shave and don't shave in different countries. In Tanzania, most girls didn't shave their legs because they hardly had any leg hair at all. I was so jealous of them. Ha.

-Japanese men usually pluck and shave their eyebrows into thin points.
-Japanese women shave their arms.
-Usually, Western men do not pluck or shave their eyebrows.
-Western women don't usually shave their arms.
-Japanese women often get their faces professionally shaved as part of a facial treatment.
-Western women don't usually shave their eyebrows, though they do pluck them.
-There's something else that isn't shaved, waxed or trimmed in Japan. I'll give you a quote about from this blog I love: "Tell me this, if you look at someone in profile, should you be able to see their pubic hair?"
-Japanese girls and Western girls usually always shave their legs and underarms.

The picture of the girl in the Onsen was taken by Rikki Kasso, whose blog is absolutely gorgeous but NSFW.