A Japanese hair cut

One of the things I didn't think about before coming to Japan was how it would be getting my hair cut by Japanese hairdressers.

For a long time my hair was long or medium, but pretty much all the same length, so I went long periods without haircuts (I admit to cutting my fringe myself to facilitate that). My main beef with hairdressers back then was that they invariably blow-dried my hair completely straight. To the point where my family were shocked. My hair isn't curly, but has a little bit of a wave in it . . . and I like it like that.

But now that my hair is short, it necessitates much more frequent trips to the hairdresser. I'm thankful that we've got cheap hairdressers in our area now. One hair cut costs under AU$20.

Most of the time I'm happy with the result, or at least satisfied. But last time I was not. Usually I have to "fight" with the hairdresser to get them to cut off enough, but last time even after some "fight" she still barely did more than a tidy up. So I was back there today after only about five weeks!

And it was only today that I realised that they expect that you'll be back in a few of weeks for another centimetre off your hair.  Asking them to take more off is akin to asking them to halve their profit margin (which I imagine is pretty slim anyway).

Today the hairdresser I got was refreshingly straight to the point. After I said I wanted two to three centimetres off, he asked, "So, you won't be coming back for two to three months?" Thankfully he was fine with it and did a good job (though was a little rough with the ears). I'm about as happy as I get with my hair straight after a haircut (and before I wash and style myself). 

Being unwilling to spend over an hour and much more than AU$20 on a haircut, I'll have to continue to try my luck at getting a decent cut, but be willing to "fight" for more off and if I don't get it, just go back for another cut a bit sooner!

I do wonder how strange Japanese hairdressers find it to cut my hair. I haven't had many comments, though I know my hair is finer than they are used to handling. Certainly the blow-dry-it-till-it-is-as-straight-as-Japanese-hair betrayed how little they'd seen of non-Asian hair. I did have one ask if I coloured my hair and was surprised to find that this is my natural hair colour. I guess they don't ask that now, because there are plenty of grey hairs to prove that it isn't coloured.