On receiving a haircut in Japan
So I made an appointment for 5, because I wasn't exactly sure how soon I could get to Harajuku (not to mention find the place again without getting lost) after class. I asked for Oono-san again, as I'd been pretty happy with how things went last time and he was nice too of course. When I called and told them I was Datta-Barua, the woman on the other end said, "Oh! Datta-Barua Indrany-san?" I felt special to be in their computer system, as if it affirmed that I "belonged" somehow. (Of course, it feels a lot less warm and fuzzy when you consider that I only "belong" as another supporter of the local economy.) I got there around 4:15 but was afraid that being too early might seem ridiculous, so I wandered further down the street for about 15 minutes.
In the past, the overtly fashion-conscious teenagers and ridiculously expensive-looking window displays amused me, but today for some reason, it was all just really sad. Every storefront looked the same, and kids walked in groups of two or three dressed EXACTLY alike. I'm NOT lying; I almost wish I were. First, in the station were three girls, each wearing a minidress with a double-layered ruffled skirt and fitted fur jacket with knee-high boots and having the same hairstyle... but in different colours. And then, outside Peek-A-Boo (the hair salon), I saw two girls wearing IDENTICAL skirts with denim jackets and black cowboy boots. Good grief. I remember in middle school how horrific the possibility of coming to school dressed like someone else was. Yes, of course, that was middle school, and the pressure to always be "different" and "an individual" probably has as many negative effects in America as the pressure to "fit in" has in Japan, but I think I find the former preferable. For example, that time I went to Harajuku with Maria and Phil, I made some comment about groups of girls who were dressed alike, and Maria said two things. 1) They might be going to a concert, where, if a big group dressed alike, they might get the band's (or other people's?) attention. 2) They might just trying to pick up guys. There are circumstances in which the first is understandable/acceptable to me, but the second... Why would you want to pick up guys by looking exactly like the people you're with? That makes no sense to me. If someone approaches you in that case, how would you ever know he was actually approaching *you*?
Anyway, so I walked into Peek-A-Boo around 4:30/40, and they immediately handed me a robe. I guess Oono-san hadn't had any other appointments and had just been waiting for me. I felt bad about that, but nothing to do about it now. I changed into the robe - I always worry about wearing it "incorrectly" (i.e. I think men close it one way and women the other) but oh well - and they took my bag and jacket. Oono-san washed my hair himself this time. I don't think I mentioned before how the hair washing also includes a head massage. The whole thing is *really* nice, and so as I lay there watching people walk by, my mind wandered from "Why are most hair stylists male?" to "Wow. This feels good," to "I imagine Japanese hair stylists make good lovers." (I apologize if you don't want to think about me thinking about that, but I promise neither the massage nor my thoughts were dirty in any way.) I don't mean that Oono-san was particularly skillful or anything (I was actually kind of tense about the whole thing - after all, a strange man was massaging my scalp), but... he was so gentle and careful that I imagine/hope that the way in which he treats someone he knows and cares about must be extraordinary.
After towel-drying my hair, I was led to a seat at the mirror. Oono-san brought me some magazines. My first time there, I hadn't really known what to do with them, but this time I saw all the women around me were reading while their hair was being cut/dyed/etc, so I opened one at first. But you know how I'm interested in hair-cutting, so I soon gave up and asked Oono-san if it was okay if I watched. (I'd watched the first time, but it hadn't occurred to me then that it might be unusual or even rude.) Of course he said it was fine. In my case, there was nothing particularly strange about the event. Growing up I'd always watched Thewy work in silence, but since then I'd seen other girls with their stylists. They're kind of like bartenders or manicurists, right? They gossip and chat and advise and are quite chummy with their patrons... in America. Here, the customer reads a magazine and mostly ignores the stylist. That's how most shops work - the customer is the "honoured guest" (literal translation of the word for "customer") and the workers quietly (for the most part) and humbly serve them. Is Peek-A-Boo standard that way? Do the magazines serve to separate the customer from the stylist, as in a shop where the service offered is less intrusive? Or... are they maybe just reading magazines... because most people aren't interested in watching someone cut and/or colour their hair?
Anyway, back to my haircut. Again, I'd told him anything was fine (though I keep saying I don't want it all off my neck as it gets colder), so I watched him first part my hair and then proceed to cut me bangs and so on. I knew my hair had gotten significantly longer, but... I hadn't realized there was *that* much hair to cut off. I was covered in clippings by the time he finished. There was a point at which I was really dismayed with how things were going, but I think in the end it turned out fine. My favourite part, actually, is the back. Too bad that's the part I can't ordinarily see. ><
When I stood and we walked back to the reception area so I could change and pay, I was surprised to notice that Oono-san is probably half a head shorter than me. He wasn't the first male I'd met who was so much shorter than me of course, but... maybe because (in my mind) he'd been doing me a favour and was clearly my elder (though possibly not by much) and I felt indebted and grateful, physically looking down at him felt very very wrong. I had to fight the urge to bow my head. Though it would have been out of a sense of gratitude, I was afraid it would seem as if I were drawing attention to the fact that he was shorter than me... though now that I think about it, it probably would not have been strange for a Japanese woman to walk like that next to him. Oh everything's so complicated.
Speaking of which, this lesson's reading in Japanese class is about making assumptions about other cultures. Of course when Sensei asked each of us what we thought about the reading, the overwhelming response (as usual) was "It was interesting." One girl said it was boring because, to her, it's common sense. To her I wanted to say, "and yet it's still a problem." In fact, that's sort of what I found most interesting. Why were we, the gaijin in Japan experiencing firsthand (if, in the case of some, for the first time) being the object of generalization and bias, reading this little article? One other girl said she could relate, because she's noticed that, in Japan if she (a gaijin) eats while walking (for example), people look at her like she's strange or rude, but if a Japanese kid does it, no one says or does anything. This is kind of related to my robe problem, among others. For example, I hate that my new American jacket zips the "female" way. It's stupid and confusing. But if I were to complain about such a thing here or intentionally tie my robe "incorrectly" out of principle... is it worth the battle? I'm already conspicuous enough, and don't I just make myself *more* unapproachable by, well... by being myself?
In the past, the overtly fashion-conscious teenagers and ridiculously expensive-looking window displays amused me, but today for some reason, it was all just really sad. Every storefront looked the same, and kids walked in groups of two or three dressed EXACTLY alike. I'm NOT lying; I almost wish I were. First, in the station were three girls, each wearing a minidress with a double-layered ruffled skirt and fitted fur jacket with knee-high boots and having the same hairstyle... but in different colours. And then, outside Peek-A-Boo (the hair salon), I saw two girls wearing IDENTICAL skirts with denim jackets and black cowboy boots. Good grief. I remember in middle school how horrific the possibility of coming to school dressed like someone else was. Yes, of course, that was middle school, and the pressure to always be "different" and "an individual" probably has as many negative effects in America as the pressure to "fit in" has in Japan, but I think I find the former preferable. For example, that time I went to Harajuku with Maria and Phil, I made some comment about groups of girls who were dressed alike, and Maria said two things. 1) They might be going to a concert, where, if a big group dressed alike, they might get the band's (or other people's?) attention. 2) They might just trying to pick up guys. There are circumstances in which the first is understandable/acceptable to me, but the second... Why would you want to pick up guys by looking exactly like the people you're with? That makes no sense to me. If someone approaches you in that case, how would you ever know he was actually approaching *you*?
Anyway, so I walked into Peek-A-Boo around 4:30/40, and they immediately handed me a robe. I guess Oono-san hadn't had any other appointments and had just been waiting for me. I felt bad about that, but nothing to do about it now. I changed into the robe - I always worry about wearing it "incorrectly" (i.e. I think men close it one way and women the other) but oh well - and they took my bag and jacket. Oono-san washed my hair himself this time. I don't think I mentioned before how the hair washing also includes a head massage. The whole thing is *really* nice, and so as I lay there watching people walk by, my mind wandered from "Why are most hair stylists male?" to "Wow. This feels good," to "I imagine Japanese hair stylists make good lovers." (I apologize if you don't want to think about me thinking about that, but I promise neither the massage nor my thoughts were dirty in any way.) I don't mean that Oono-san was particularly skillful or anything (I was actually kind of tense about the whole thing - after all, a strange man was massaging my scalp), but... he was so gentle and careful that I imagine/hope that the way in which he treats someone he knows and cares about must be extraordinary.
After towel-drying my hair, I was led to a seat at the mirror. Oono-san brought me some magazines. My first time there, I hadn't really known what to do with them, but this time I saw all the women around me were reading while their hair was being cut/dyed/etc, so I opened one at first. But you know how I'm interested in hair-cutting, so I soon gave up and asked Oono-san if it was okay if I watched. (I'd watched the first time, but it hadn't occurred to me then that it might be unusual or even rude.) Of course he said it was fine. In my case, there was nothing particularly strange about the event. Growing up I'd always watched Thewy work in silence, but since then I'd seen other girls with their stylists. They're kind of like bartenders or manicurists, right? They gossip and chat and advise and are quite chummy with their patrons... in America. Here, the customer reads a magazine and mostly ignores the stylist. That's how most shops work - the customer is the "honoured guest" (literal translation of the word for "customer") and the workers quietly (for the most part) and humbly serve them. Is Peek-A-Boo standard that way? Do the magazines serve to separate the customer from the stylist, as in a shop where the service offered is less intrusive? Or... are they maybe just reading magazines... because most people aren't interested in watching someone cut and/or colour their hair?
Anyway, back to my haircut. Again, I'd told him anything was fine (though I keep saying I don't want it all off my neck as it gets colder), so I watched him first part my hair and then proceed to cut me bangs and so on. I knew my hair had gotten significantly longer, but... I hadn't realized there was *that* much hair to cut off. I was covered in clippings by the time he finished. There was a point at which I was really dismayed with how things were going, but I think in the end it turned out fine. My favourite part, actually, is the back. Too bad that's the part I can't ordinarily see. ><
When I stood and we walked back to the reception area so I could change and pay, I was surprised to notice that Oono-san is probably half a head shorter than me. He wasn't the first male I'd met who was so much shorter than me of course, but... maybe because (in my mind) he'd been doing me a favour and was clearly my elder (though possibly not by much) and I felt indebted and grateful, physically looking down at him felt very very wrong. I had to fight the urge to bow my head. Though it would have been out of a sense of gratitude, I was afraid it would seem as if I were drawing attention to the fact that he was shorter than me... though now that I think about it, it probably would not have been strange for a Japanese woman to walk like that next to him. Oh everything's so complicated.
Speaking of which, this lesson's reading in Japanese class is about making assumptions about other cultures. Of course when Sensei asked each of us what we thought about the reading, the overwhelming response (as usual) was "It was interesting." One girl said it was boring because, to her, it's common sense. To her I wanted to say, "and yet it's still a problem." In fact, that's sort of what I found most interesting. Why were we, the gaijin in Japan experiencing firsthand (if, in the case of some, for the first time) being the object of generalization and bias, reading this little article? One other girl said she could relate, because she's noticed that, in Japan if she (a gaijin) eats while walking (for example), people look at her like she's strange or rude, but if a Japanese kid does it, no one says or does anything. This is kind of related to my robe problem, among others. For example, I hate that my new American jacket zips the "female" way. It's stupid and confusing. But if I were to complain about such a thing here or intentionally tie my robe "incorrectly" out of principle... is it worth the battle? I'm already conspicuous enough, and don't I just make myself *more* unapproachable by, well... by being myself?
posted by Bibhatsu at 05:33
2 Comments:
I love your blog. I've been reading through it today and really enjoying it
HI! I am going to Tokyo in the summer and I was thinking about getting a haircut there. I am reading about Peek-a-Boo and I found your blog (BTW, cute haircut!). Can I ask you how much you spent?
Thanks!!
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