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Yoga, Pilates, hot yoga: women’s beauty habits keep evolving.
Today, though, I’d like to suggest an option that few people know about yet.
Billiards.
If your first thought was “Billiards? Really?”, then please read on.
In Korea, billiards is part of everyday life
The world pays attention to Korean beauty not only because of the quality of its skincare and cosmetics.
It is because a “high awareness of being beautiful” is rooted in every corner of daily life.
In that same Korea, billiards is a sport that men and women alike enjoy as a matter of course.
There are billiard halls all over town, and dropping in is as casual as going to a game arcade.
Billiards is so much a part of popular culture in Korea that matches air routinely on cable sports channels.
Why do Korean women enjoy billiards?
The answer, as it happens, is deeply connected to beauty.
“Being seen” is what makes beauty
Kaori Ebe, a former JPBA professional now active as an artistic billiards player, put it this way on a TOKYO FM program.
“Women really do shine by being seen, you know. In billiards, your whole body is on view. So you become much more conscious of your figure.”
I think those words go straight to the heart of beauty.
Models and actresses are beautiful not only because of the looks they were born with.
It is the awareness of “always being watched” that polishes everything: how they stand, how they walk, their expressions.
In the billiards stance, you lean over the table and use your whole body to set up the cue.
That posture naturally lengthens the spine and creates a beautiful line, with the core engaged.
And that whole body is being watched, by the opponent and by the gallery.
“Shining by being seen”: billiards comes with that setting built in.
If the essence of Korean beauty lies in a “high awareness of beauty,” billiards can be a place that nurtures that awareness every day.
It is, in fact, a full-body workout. And it is inseparable from beauty.
You may think of billiards as a “sport where you don’t move.” In reality, it is not.
Kaori Ebe also says this:
“When you finish a shot and straighten up, you’re working your inner muscles. My abs are weirdly hard, just my abs. And when you stroke the ball, your elbow has to be at 90 degrees. You fix the upper arm and move only the part below the elbow, so it really works the back of your upper arms. But you don’t bulk up the way you do from weight training. You get supple muscle.”
Because you walk around the table as you play, the distance you cover in a single game is surprisingly long. And this “moderate exercise” has a much bigger effect on beauty than you might think.
🩸 Better circulation and metabolism Oxygen and nutrients reach every last capillary, dullness fades, and your skin gains clarity.
🔄 Healthy skin turnover Old skin cells shed away, preventing rough texture and clogged pores.
💧 Detox through sweat Waste and excess water are flushed out, helping to clear breakouts and puffiness.
✨ Keeping skin youthful Moderate stimulation of the muscles encourages the release of growth hormone, supporting firmness and elasticity (the dermis).
😊 Stress relief and better sleep Serotonin, the “happiness hormone,” is released, helping to prevent skin trouble. And as sleep improves, the skin’s renewal cycle settles into rhythm as well.
👉 Skin is made while you sleep. — On how to spend the night.
In the same way that yoga and Pilates are loved for “building a supple body,” billiards holds an exquisite balance: “not too much movement, but the body is truly moving.”
Beauty and billiards are, in fact, inseparable.
| Yoga / Pilates | Billiards | |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness of being seen | ○ | ◎ |
| Supple muscles | ◎ | ○ |
| Mindfulness | ◎ | ◎ |
| Sociability and fun | △ | ◎ |
| Competition and play | × | ◎ |
If yoga and Pilates are “time to face yourself,” billiards is “time with someone else, in which you can still focus on yourself.”
To learn more about the beauty benefits of billiards, please see this article too.
👉 Billiards turns out to be a sport that makes you beautiful from within.
👉 No sunburn, no bare skin, makeup stays on. — Billiards, a new beauty habit.
The silence before the shot: that is mindfulness
The most beautiful moment in billiards may be the one just before the shot.
You picture the next ball dropping into the pocket.
In your head, you design which cushion the cue ball will meet, at what angle it will travel, and where it will stop.
You settle into your stance, steady your breath, and let your body bring that image to life.
This whole sequence has essentially the same structure as mindfulness meditation.
And billiards has an interesting quality that other sports don’t.
In boxing or football, you fight while adjusting to your opponent’s movements in real time.
In baseball, you swing the bat to meet the pitcher’s throw.
You must always be aware of your opponent, and always react to them.
Billiards is different.
Though it is a head-to-head contest, the moment of your own shot is a world entirely your own.
Your opponent waits.
No one hurries you.
In that silence, you focus only on your image and your body.
You are in a match, and yet you can focus on yourself.
This is a richness unique to the game of billiards.
“Focusing only on this very moment”: yoga and mindfulness are loved by women because they free us from everyday stress and give us time to face ourselves.
The silence before a billiards shot has the same effect.
It is widely known in the world of beauty that mental stability balances our hormones, and that this connects directly to the state of our skin and body.
As a way to nurture “beauty from within,” billiards can be a new option.
👉 To stay young at heart, and in body. — A new anti-aging habit.
If you’re starting billiards in Yokohama
Yokohama has a number of stylish billiard halls.
The Yokohama Open Organizing Committee offers a guide to places where you can drop in with friends, with a partner, or on a whim by yourself.
👉 See the Yokohama Billiard Hall Guide
Think back to when you first took up yoga or Pilates.
At first you were surely half in doubt: “Is this really good for my looks?”
But as you kept going, you felt your body change, your mind settle, and before you knew it, it had become a habit.
Billiards will be the same, I’m sure.
An awareness of “being seen” is born, your body moves, and focus brings your mind into balance.
As that builds up, little by little, changes begin to show, both outside and within.
And billiards has a kind of fun that yoga and Pilates don’t.
The tension of a match, the intellectual craft of planning, time you can enjoy with someone else: it can be a beauty habit and, at the same time, a hobby that enriches your life.
Why not make billiards your next beauty habit?
References
- Goyal, M. et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357-368. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018
- Oizumi, R., Sugimoto, Y. & Aibara, H. (2024). The Potential of Exercise on Lifestyle and Skin Function: Narrative Review. JMIR Dermatology, 7, e51962. doi:10.2196/51962
- Godfrey, R. J., Madgwick, Z. & Whyte, G. P. (2003). The exercise-induced growth hormone response in athletes. Sports Medicine, 33(8), 599-613. doi:10.2165/00007256-200333080-00005
- Chen, Y. & Lyga, J. (2014). Brain-skin connection: stress, inflammation and skin aging. Inflammation & Allergy Drug Targets, 13(3), 177-190. doi:10.2174/1871528113666140522104422
