Gone are the days when a few strategically-placed tissues was all you needed to give cleavage a boost - now Japanese women are using ribbons.

The fad involves women tying a blue ribbon under the breasts and in a loop over the arms, tying them at the back, so every time they lift their arms, their curves become more prominent.

The idea was inspired by a popular 'anime' cartoon character whose ribbon-bound arms and chest has become her signature.

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A trend in Japan has seen young women tying blue ribbon under their breasts for a better cleavage

In the show, called Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon, heroine Hestia is depicted with a cartoonish face and outsized eyes, her hair in long bunches that taper to her thighs.

Like her Greek goddess namesake, she wears white - but that's where the comparisons end.

Her frock is short, backless, with a plunging neckline and comes with matching white gloves.

Added to this is her distinctive blue ribbon, looped tightly around her pneumatic torso, and tied with the bow resting on her upper arm.

The trend is inspired by the anime character Hestia from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon

The ribbon is tied under the breasts and over the arms so that they are uplifted every time the arms are raised

The trend has seen many Japanese women uploading pictures of their successes online

But bizarrely Hestia's signature has taken off with the fans of the show.

It has not only been picked up by cosplayers, who like to dress up as their favourite anime characters, but it has also been copied by ordinary girls who have been posting their own Hestia-inspired images online.

The trend has even extended to toys and collectable items, with some snaps showing dolls in a copycat costume, and even a Lego figure designed to look remarkably like the anime character.

While some women opt for a single loop around their chest and arms, others tie the ribbon once under their breasts and then around once again to rest on the upper arms to give cleavage a bigger boost when lifting their arms.

Fans have even created detailed diagrams on how best to tie the ribbon