Japanese Influencer Unrecognizable After 8 Years of Plastic Surgery Transformations
Airi Hirase, a 27-year-old Japanese influencer, has gained over 1 million followers on Instagram, posting content about her dramatic transformation through plastic surgery. Before-and-after pictures online show her transition from an awkward teenager to a seemingly confident woman with a conventionally appealing face.
Hirase is currently the CEO of Backstage Agent, an entertainment and technology company. She also appears in Free Style League Japan as a ring girl and has made appearances in reality shows and fashion magazines.
Hirase owes all her success to the multiple plastic surgeries she underwent to boost her self-confidence.
While the physical transformation may have changed her life for the better, has it really boosted her confidence and calmed her insecurities?
Airi Hirase was taunted by her mother because she resembled her unfaithful father.
Growing up in Ibaraki prefecture, Airi Hirase was brutally bullied at school for her appearance. She was called ugly by her own peers and was told she looked like a man.
For Hirase, school was difficult but life at home was worse. In one of her online posts, she revealed her mother would tell the five-year-old Hirase that she was a “mistake†and regretted having her.
The scorned mother, who was betrayed by Hirase’s father, would pour out her resentment at little Hirase, criticizing her appearance for she resembled her father.
Hirase spent around US$170,000 on more than 20 procedures to modify her face and breasts.
Years of abuse by her mother and the constant bullying at school took a toll on Hirase’s self-esteem. By the age of 15, she was determined to do everything in her power to change her appearance and become beautiful. Plastic surgeries struck her as the magic wand that could end all the suffering.
Hirase was aware of the costs of such procedures. To earn and save money for the surgeries, she worked as a security guard and as an assistant, helping people to move. Living in a rented $164-per-month apartment, she hustled between two jobs with barely four hours of sleep.
At 19, she had saved enough to undergo her first procedure and, in the next eight years, spent over US$170,000 on more than 20 procedures to enhance her face and breasts.
Today, Hirase’s face shows no resemblance to her previous teenage self. She looks confident in her photos and is happy with the positive changes in her life. However, the transformation has had little impact on Hirase’s self-esteem as she continues to struggle with self-confidence.
After she went public about her many cosmetic surgeries, people mostly showed her love and empathy. However, she also had to deal with online bullies who left mean comments and messages.
Hirase, who has already suffered a great deal of bullying, was hurt and distressed by the hateful comments. But it did not stop her from being focused on making the most of her second chance at life.
