View Survival:Hair
Many Western women, irrespective of the amount of attention they paid to their hair at home, find themselves facing two major problems in Japan: hair condition and the search for a good stylist.
Hair Changes
There are some Western women who choose to change their hair here. Some women change their hair in an attempt to fit in with a more conservative work environment; some women cut off long hair because it drives them crazy in the humid summer. Whatever you lovingly created in your air-conditioned apartment is destroyed by the time you reach the station two minutes away.
Hair loss, brittleness and a lack of softness seem to be common complaints amongst Western women. The main reason seems to be the ‘hard’ water which is laden with chlorine, particularly in Tokyo. An increase in stress can affect the condition of your hair, and most women report higher levels of stress while living in Japan, especially upon arrival. The condition of your hair will quickly return to normal when you go back to your home country, but proper care and maintenance can keep it in good shape in the meantime.
Hair care products
Generally available products are designed for Japanese hair, which is a different texture to most Westerner’s hair. An increasing number of salons and stores are now stocking Western brands of professional and drugstore hair products so look around. If you like to home-dye your hair, you may prefer to stock up when at home, or have a kind friend send you some, rather than rely on shop products in Japan that are generally too strong for your hair.
Hairdressers
Everyone invariably has at least one horror story concerning a visit to a Japanese hairdresser, stories that are so widely shared and suitably terrifying that some Western women have never visited a hairdresser in Japan. Some of the main complaints include unpredictable perming and colouring treatments, and the Japanese hairstylist’s obsession with the blow-dryer. These hairdressing disasters are usually due to a lack of communication or nerves (the stylist’s, not yours) and because most Japanese hairdressers are simply not trained to deal with non-Japanese hair.
Tips for finding a hairdresser
* Get recommendations from friends.
* Check that the staff speak English (or another language that you are fluent in).
* Make sure they have trained in the West.
* Ask how many of their clients are foreigners.
* When you see a woman with great hair, ask her for her stylist’s contact number - she’ll probably be flattered and happy to help.