美容師

There are innumerable hairdressers in Japan's cities ranging from cheap, 10$ "dry-cut" joints with no shampoo and the red, white and blue revolving poles to the glitzy salons on inner city boulevards that charge 600 bucks a crop for a "course" from their "menu".


Frequently bizarre, the names of many of these establishments never fail to amuse. I have experienced such classics as: Be FeelBy Harada, Bim Bum Bam, Buddy Hair Leap, Bush, C-Blow, Chouette, Chronic, Coma, Cut House May-Be, Drop, Flap, Gohair, Growhair, Hair & ParmSoup, Hysteric Mama, NudeColor, Phat, Piggyhair, Poo, Purplenumber, Red Nose, Shoop, Shrimp, Shup, Snobenvamp, Spic, Tedhair, The, Yayoi-Brains, Warp Hair, and my personal favorite Single Carrot.


Wherever you decide to have your hair cut or styled in Japan, it will normally be an enjoyable and relaxing experience despite the name.



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髪の毛

The woman at right, in addition to sporting a fantastic obi (belt) for her yukata, also has a great head of hair.

Swept up, teased out, dyed, frilled and bangs to boot: you name it, she's got it.

And we love it.

The couple below left gets the opposites attract prize: he of the shaved bullet head machismo look, she of the slightly less extreme swept up, teased out, dyed, frilled and bangs to boot look.

If you look closely, the bottom photo is actually two couples. The young man in the background at left has a more "ima fu" （今風＝current, in fashion) look. His partner has a large pin holding her hair in place.

Moving on, we spotted two young women, also in yukata robes for the summer festival, and they have long beautiful dyed hair.

Their look is dangerously close to the "Yankee" (hoodlum, juvenile delinquent) look.

The blond streaks, bold hair decorations - flowers - and lightly tanned skin all scream: "I am 17 and am absolutely so going to have, like, a fabulous time tonight!"

They seem innocent enough though, and both flashed big toothy smiles when they realized I was taking their picture.


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日本人髪の毛（のこだわり）

Japanese people take their hair very seriously.

From the samurai top knot to the geisha's elaborate wig, the bikers upswept locks of the 1960s to the beehives of today - a lot of time, energy, and money goes into hair care and presentation.

Case #1: The guy at right dozing on a train near Kyoto. He could be a pimp on his way to work in one of the red-light districts, or perhaps he is doing a post doc in physics at Kyoto University and off to attend an academic conference.

The wind tunnel look he is sporting is not cheap. At most salons, that alone would set him back about 10,000 yen ($100). The dye job would be extra.

The woman he is no doubt off to meet, at left, is our Case #2. She is at Osaka's Kyobashi Station. With her back to us - or rather her hair to us - she is sporting the classic neo-hostess look of overflowing, painstakingly mussed, and heavily dyed locks.

The man in the red happi coat does not have his hand stuck in her hair, though it could happen.

He is actually passing out free tissue packs; the young lady needs a few before heading off for an evening of pouring drinks and lighting cigarettes for middle-aged men at a hostess club.

Note the contrast between her beehive and the two tightly cropped men that bookend her head.

Estimated cost: 18,000 ($180) for the dye and weave.

Our final example, Case #3, is a bit more conservative.

The woman is waiting at Tsuruhashi Station, in Osaka, for the express train to the Pacific coast and its hot springs and inns.

She has a tight bun that is only slightly tinged with henna. It is neatly pinned and held back with a hairpiece.

Is she a company president meeting clients? A bored housewife off for a weekday dalliance with a company president? A salesperson for a major cosmetics firm? A post doc in physics at Kyoto University? A hair model?

Please submit your guesses.

Estimated cost: 6,000 yen ($60) for the dye job.

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