Is Japan's economy taking a turn for the better? The Nikkei, Japan's leading business daily, recommends keeping an eye on women's hairstyles and eyebrows for an answer.

The newspaper believes that, among many predictors of economic performance, the two women's style trends are touchstones in Japan.

Japanese women tend to wear their hair long and have thick eyebrows when Japan's economy is doing well. But they cut their hair shorter and have thin eyebrows when there is a slump, the daily reported, citing a survey conducted by Japanese cosmetics company Kao Corp.