The perfect hairdo

One…two…three…three…th—no wait, four…yes, four…the front of my hair has strands that come in at least four different lengths. It’s Friday morning and I had just stepped out of the shower to examine the status of my new haircut. Since arriving in Japan eight months ago, I’ve received 3 hair cuts and one extremely thorough facial shave. Like other “everyday activities” here in Nihon, a haircut is a valuable opportunity to gain further insight into the Japanese world. As I stood looking in the mirror at the spiky collective of my hair, I reflected on my previous experiences in the barber shops of Oita-ken.

My first haircut: I delayed it as long as I could in hopes that my Japanese teacher would surprise us with a beauty salon scenario and a list of crucial vocabulary words. Getting a haircut in a new place is scary anywhere, but getting you hair cut by someone who doesn’t speak your language or know your culture is even scarier! Plus, if food, driving, and shoe etiquette are all different in Japan, than what kind of cultural differences are there involved in haircuts?!

As the weather slowly faded to cooler temperatures, I watched my hair grow and begin turning and curling in strange ways. I would obsessively twirl little bits in the back and think, “Wow, my hair hasn’t ever been this long before. I really should get it cut…I’m starting too look waaay too frat-boyish.” Each morning I combed the mass of thick brown down hoping the inevitable mushroom shape wouldn’t show up that day, but by each mid-morning my hair was a puffy mess and I finally admitted that I had to get it cut.

Finding a barber shop/stylist wasn’t a problem because Japan is filled with them. Even out in the sticks where I live there are about 3 or 4 within walking distance and they’re all marked with the familiar, striped barber shop pole. On the recommendation of fellow Ajimu ALT, Chris, I went to an establishment in town armed with photos of my head from home. The man working there was a nice guy who wore a yellow, Hawaiian print shirt and didn’t really seem to mind that I couldn’t tell him what I wanted in Japanese. I showed him the pictures (regretfully sighing when he pointed out I didn’t have a shot of the BACK of my head) and he began cutting away.

Once the do was finished (a style I found acceptable), the man in the yellow shirt asked, “Shave, okay?” I tensed a little and responded with an unconvincing “okay” while he tilted back my chair and applied hot towels to my face. I was a little nervous, but more curious of what was going to happen. After I had soaked in the towels for a bit, the man returned to apply shaving cream all over my face…seriously ALL OVER: my chin, cheeks, forehead and nose. The man in the yellow shirt then took out a large murder weapon/straight razor and began to skillfully shave off my beard and any other hair on my face that wasn’t my eyebrows. The process took about fifteen minutes as he targeted an area, removed all hair, reapplied hot towels, reapplied shaving cream, and then started again. The end result: a face completely devoid of unwanted hair and a wonderful relax feeling that one can only get from being treated with such caring attention. Haircut #1, a success.

Haircuts 2 and 3: The following times my hair approached lengths of unmanageability, I went to see a young Japanese girl who cuts a lot of foreigners’ hair. Her ability to speak some English combined with a genki demeanor has sealed her hold on the gaijin haircutting market. She has cut the hair of most ALTs in the area and I like her a lot. The styles she gives me are definitely a little Japanesey in that the end result is a hair style ready to be spiked in lots of different directions with a careless, but also intentional, hand. When I looked through her style book and was confronted by dozens of young Japanese men with dramatic, pointy, somewhat feminine hair styles, I said, “I don’t think any of these are quite right for me” and she assured me I could get “something a little old style, maybe”.

The hairdos on young people in Japan can be amazing...and easy to make yourself. Simply take a clump of hair anywhere on your head and jaggedly cut it off. Next take another clump from a different part of your head and cut it off AT A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LENGTH (that’s key!). Repeat this a few times making sure no part of your do is symmetrical (and leaving at least a little to come down over an eye is good too). Once satisfied, take some strong styling wax, goop up your locks, and point them in at least three different directions/angels. Now all you need is a shirt with some bad English printed on the front and you’re ready for a night out on the town.

I’m pleased with my hair and also with the fact that there is such freedom in hairstyles here in Japan. Up, down, left, right, into my skull, in all directions at once—anything is cool! So since it’s Friday, I need to get my wind-tunnel-tested gel and throw some attitude in my hair. See ya’ll on the flip side.