My first haircut in Japan

Whenever you move to a new place, one of the main questions I ask around is, "Do you have a good hairstylist?". I love to get my hair cut and highlighted. It makes me feel fresh and makes my hair looks healthier and much easier to manage. So when I got to Misawa, I right away started asking about places to get haircuts. Some people prefer to go on base at the BX where Japanese ladies cut hair but it's done in a more American setting. Others like to go off-base but then sometimes they face a strong language barrier since most of the hairstylists have very limited English. Others choose to find someone an American who used to cut hair in the states because they do not like the way Japanese cut hair--it seems to have a more jagged way, hard to explain.

So......I risked it. One woman I met at the Misawa Inn hotel when her family was leaving Japan, recommended salon Prizm, and she gave me a coupon for 10,500 yen off (that's roughly $11). I like discounts, so I made an appointment with Yamamoto (he turned out to be a guy in his 40s, the owner of the salon--totally straight and married:)).

I came into the salon, right away they offered to take my purse and jacket and sat me down on the couch in the middle of the salon room. Then Yamamoto came and introduced himself and started asking me about what I would like to do with my hair. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I brought him a picture, to explain color and haircut. His English was pretty good, actually.

Now, here is where things started to be really different. Another woman (she is an assistant, I found out later) took me to the special room to wet my hair. I was asked to take off my earrings for the remainder of me getting my hair done. Then they put a washcloth over my eyes so that my makeup doesn't get messed up--how thoughtful! And then they brushed my hair right there. Before coming out to the main part of the salon--so I don't look like a dirty mop when everyone else sees me (I hate that part of getting my hair cut and other people staring at me).

Yamamoto cut my hair. He rolled up to me sitting in his stool with his cart that had everything he needed and more. I thought to myself, "Do Japanese cut people's hair sitting down?" (I know, kind of silly). Well, he did some of it! For the final look, he had his assistant hold up a huge mirror to show me the back of my head.

The strangest thing was getting highlights. For those who have had them done before know it's a pretty lengthy process. Not in Japan! Can you imagine two people at the same time doing foils on you? Crazy! Teamwork is their credo:) They were done in half an hour, seriously. Assistant did most of the work, with Yamamoto doing the hair in the front and the top--the most important pieces. And then TWO assistants were taking off the foils! Again--TEAMWORK.

Just when I got excited about getting done early, they sent me to get my hair washed before styling. Wow! I didn't know you could clean and scrub my head as long as they did. Must have been really dirty or something. That assistant's hands became brushes, it felt, nothing like a relaxing rubbing and massaging you get in the states-haha.

Finally, Yamamoto's assistant was the one who styled my hair. Straightening (I don't use straightener at home actually, but she did) each tiny section at a time. Looked great at the end but I couldn't believe and feel sorry for people who have to spend that much time making their hair straight.

Will I go back there again? Sure. I think Yamamoto did a great job. And for everything they did today, I paid around $70 tip included (it's not customary to tip in Japan).

Bye-bye for now. Pictures will come soon.