According to the list, the guy in the photo above already has two strikes against him.

Japan is often described as a very clean society, but that love of tidiness goes beyond clean trains and other public facilities. People in Japan also tend to take their personal appearance very seriously.

At least most of them do. As with any society, not everyone follows the exact same grooming ritual and fitness regimen. Not looking well put together, though, can have an averse effect on a man’s love life, which is why Japanese Twitter user @gatigatitv put together a list of nine steps men need to take so they won’t be thought of as grossly dirty by women in Japan.

The nine points of the checklist are:
1. Get your hair cut at a salon [as opposed to a barber shop]
2. Style your hair with wax or gel
3. Shave your beard every day
4. Trim and shape your eyebrows
5. Wear contact lenses
6. Use concealer on your face
7. Lift weights
8. Wear clothes that fit you
9. Take countermeasures against body odor

“This is all a man has to do to pass a woman’s initial cleanliness check, but there are so many guys who don’t do these things, so they can’t get a date,” @gatigatitv tweeted along with the list, which racked up over 56,000 likes and 40,000 retweets, showing she’s not the only one with these standards.

The list did also prompt some dissenting opinions, though, especially in regards to using concealer, something that the vast majority of Japanese men don’t do. The command to wear contacts also a bit of a head-scratcher, seeing as how corrective eyewear is pretty common in Japan, and actually considered fashionable in many circles. Some speculated that maybe @gatigatitv was talking about using cosmetic contact lenses to make your irises look larger and more expressive. Though in keeping with the list’s purported theme of “cleanliness,” wearing contacts does sidestep the problem of dirty glasses lenses.

Other detractors asserted that it’s enough for a man to follow some of the points on the list, but that asking for him to do all of them is too much. A few cynics even grumbled that even if they passed the “initial cleanliness check,” they’d still get rejected during the next round criteria checks to judge their suitableness as a potential boyfriend.

As with all things in romance, ultimately it’s all up to the tastes of the individuals involved in the would-be romantic coupling. But while such preferences are subjective, deodorant is something all guys should absolutely be using.

Source: Twitter/@gatigatitv via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he could use a shave.