An extreme form of body modification that is gripping parts of Japan has its roots in Canada.

“Bagel head” is a technique where a person’s forehead is injected with 300-400cc of saline to create a temporary bagel-like shape.

The procedure takes two hours and lasts up to one night, according to the National Geographic Channel’s Taboo TV series, which recently featured the phenomenon in the episode “Extreme Bodies.”

Photographer and journalist Ryoichi “Keroppy” Maeda brought the technique to Japan after meeting Montreal-based photographer Jerome Abramovitch, who pioneered the technique, at a Modcon convention in 1999, Maeda told VICE Magazine last year.

“I got talking to Jerome and we stayed in contact, then eventually I experienced saline with him in 2003 and he gave me permission to bring it to Japan, so I set up a team in Tokyo to administer infusions for other people,” Maeda told VICE.

Maeda has been hosting “bagel head” parties around Tokyo since 2007.

Maeda told VICE a medical-grade saline solution is pumped into a person’s forehead for roughly two hours. Once the forehead is filled with solution, a thumb is pressed down into the centre of the forehead to create the bagel-like look, according to the National Geographic episode.

“The body absorbs it over time so by the next morning it just goes back to normal. We enjoy being freaks for the night, ha ha,” Maeda told VICE, adding the forehead skin doesn’t sag no matter how many times it is injected with the solution.

Toronto body modification artist Matt Cottrell, who works at Dusk Body Modification studio, first heard of Abramovitch’s work back in the early 2000s online and through mutual friends.

Cottrell, who does piercings — specifically corset piercings where someone’s back is pierced with ribbon to resemble a corset — at performance shows wouldn’t offer the “bagel head” technique at his studio.

“It’s a more of a play-performance thing . . . it’s not permanent, your body reabsorbs it,” said Cottrell, who has practiced body modification for over 15 years.

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