Hair Salons in Japan: Useful phrases and what to expect

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Everyone needs their hair cut or styled at some point. What to do in Japan? Oh, just passing through? You might want to go for the experience of hair salons in Japan and I’ll explain why. However, like most things, they can be a bit intimidating at first if you don’t know what to expect. Here’s a quick guide to help you wade through the waters.

Where to find hair salons in Japan

First of all, you have to find one. If there is one thing there isn’t a shortage of in Japan, it’s hair salons! Everyone has their hair done professionally! Google search will work just fine, you might need some help on the Japanese address though.

If you happen to live in Yokosuka, my favorite is Kenje. However, just walking around (as they are EVERYWHERE) has its benefits too as you can quickly see the prices. Luckily, just about all of them have their prices posted on the window or on a sign outside.

Useful Japanese words to know

Not there yet with your Japanese learning? Worried about the language barrier? Take the English words and slap some Japanese pronunciation on it and you are nearly there. Nearly 100% of the words you need for hair salons in Japan are taken from English. Lucky!

1. Hair salon or ヘアサロン (heaseron)
2. Haircut or カット (katto)
3. Shampoo or シャンプー (shampū)
4. Blow-dry orブロー (burō)
5. Coloring or カラー (karā)
6. Straight perm or ストレートパーマ (sutorētopāma)
7. Updo or アップ (appu)
8. Bangs or  前髪  (maegami)

By all means, hand signals will do wonders and feel free to pantomime cutting your bangs or indicating how short you want to cut your hair. Note – if that happens to be a lot, you may get some “hontou ni?!” questions which means “are you sure?”.

I like to grow my hair out for several years, get tired of it and then chop it off to my shoulders. There’s been multiple times that I’ve cut 10 inches or more off. And yes, it is possible to donate your hair in Japan! If all else fails, bring a picture along for a reference for the stylist and use the following phrase:

“こんな感じです” (konna kanji desu)

感じ (kanji, yes, pronounced like the word for the written character) actually means “feeling” so this can be translated as “this feeling” but basically means “I like it like this”.

The customer service, omotenashi

Japan is famous for its service quality, what they call お持て成し (おもてなし, omotenashi). Hair salons are no different. Many will offer you something to drink (tea or coffee, generally), perhaps a shoulder or head massage. Making you feel comfortable is a top priority! A blanket to keep you warm perhaps or a pillow to be able to rest your arms.

This is also why you might want to consider stopping in hair salons in Japan, even if you are just passing through. There are plenty of times where I’ve just gone to get shampoo massage! That packed with some nice oils and a blow out and you’re good to go.

Most shops will give you a shop card, make sure to keep that on you for next time! They will mark the stylist you had an what date and generally always try to get you with the same one. They know your hair after all!

You will most likely have a small army attending to you anyway. Someone to situated you, someone to wash your hair, someone to help dry your hair. I get my hair straightened once a year (Japanese hair straightening is the best thing ever!!) so there are normally 2 or 3 people helping with that process at once.

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