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Colourful and crazy, weird and wacky, the latest nail trends are on show at Japan's Tokyo Nail Expo. Complex designs featuring your child's face, or your favourite pet painted on your nail are the talons du jour. The more intricate the better, and business is booming. From the extravagant to the the extreme, these are nails dressed to impress. At the Tokyo Nail Expo - held at the city's 'Big Sight' exhibition centre - intricately-decorated nails are hitting the catwalk and drawing approving glances. As part of the event - thought to be the largest of its kind in the world - the most extravagant forms of nail art are going on display in a special competition. Designers have spent weeks and months planning and putting together these intricate pieces. "I really wanted to make something very detailed and I pushed myself to see how far I could go for this competition," says Yuu Nakai, a nail artist and the eventual winner of the professional competition. Organisers say this year's event is the largest yet. The show itself had humble beginnings. Thirty-years-ago in a building basement, the Japan Nailist Association (JNA) was founded with the intention of spreading the practice of nail art. The nail industry has gone through different stages and changes since then, but for the most part has been on an upward trend. Now, the nail industry employs an estimated 60,000 people and boasts around 20,000 nail salons. "This year, the nail industry has finally been formally recognised as a category by the government," says Youji Fujiwara, vice chairman of the Japan Nailist Association. "It is approximately a $2 billion US dollar industry here in Japan, but only 20 percent of Japanese women actually do their nails which means 80 percent are not and we are planning to approach them and hope the industry will increase fivefold." In the past - when the industry was still young - many Japanese nail artists would have to travel to Las Vegas or other parts of the US to buy their supplies. Now, according to Youji Fujiwara, that's all changed. "These days dealers and manufacturers of nail-related goods visit nail salons directly," he says. "So actually a lot of the people you see here today are regular people from all over the country and even from Asia who come because they can buy cheap supplies here." According to Fujiwara, still only 20 percent of Japanese women have so far embraced nail art. While some are professionals, most visitors here are regular people who love nails and are keen to pick up some tips from industry professionals. "I'm actually taking classes at a nail school and I came here because I wanted to research and possibly buy some new products," says Chinese student, Kou Kan. "Also I knew I'd find lots of professional nail artists and I thought I could pick up some tips." Nail art may not have originated in Japan, but like many other industries, Japanese people have embraced it and made it their own. Beauty consultant, Janica Sims, owns a nail salon called JoliArts in central Tokyo. She says nail artists in Japan are highly respected, the best can achieve a status which can be equated to that of successful fashion designers. "I think nail artists here continue to educate themselves, continue to try to challenge themselves by creating new trends, trying to be original and they love it," she says. "The nail artists here today - some of them you'll see on the stage demonstrating - they are very highly respected in the industry and for people here. It's like fashion designers are." Increasingly sophisticated requests have also been a constant motivation for self-improvement, according to Sims, a nail artist has to be prepared for anything when a customer walks into the salon. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/0b7bba778abaf6441c95d971dc47f54f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork