{"id":584,"date":"2010-01-10T15:37:22","date_gmt":"2010-01-10T06:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triplefstudio.com\/yokoso\/?p=584"},"modified":"2010-01-10T15:37:22","modified_gmt":"2010-01-10T06:37:22","slug":"the-japanization-of-my-hair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.triplefstudio.com\/yokoso\/2010\/01\/10\/the-japanization-of-my-hair\/","title":{"rendered":"The Japanization of my hair"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve talked about before, I enjoy getting a haircut in Japan<\/a>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the shampoo, the massage, the meticulous cut, and the attention to service. My \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stylist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d moved from Toni&Guy<\/a> to his own place, Hair Make Arm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S<\/a>. I have no idea what the name means. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a name anyway? I know where to go so it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter.<\/p>\n

He chose to start his own salon just as the economic crisis was hitting, and I worried about it. At first it seemed he was not very busy at all, but it seems he is doing OK now so hopefully things will remain good for him. When he left however, I lost the assistant who acted as a translator for my cuts. It is hard enough to communicate what you want in English, much less for me to communicate in Japanese. To solve the problem, I was just keeping my hair short. Hey, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so hard to keep it short. Get it cut often enough and things will be fine.<\/p>\n

Lately, though, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve decided to grow my hair out. Perhaps it is a reaction to noticing that my forehead has become larger in recent pictures of me, maybe caused by a retreat of my hairline. Also, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve noticed that my scalp is more visible than it used to be. Midlife crisis perhaps? Ah, well, yeah, maybe. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going with the compensatory pony tail accompanied by a bald pate. Besides, long scruffy hair seems to be rather cool. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never by Zac Efron because I actually open my eyes, but he seems to be all about his hair so why not take a page from his book?<\/p>\n

The problem with my hair as it gets longer is that often I have to wear a baseball cap at work. It is a silly safety rule that when I am in certain parts of the site, a cap is required. No protective eyewear, but a baseball cap is required. So with short hair I could take off my cap, mess it up with my hand, and there was no impact. With longer hair, I can get hathead pretty quickly. Plus, unlike the uberstraight hair of my youth, when it gets longer it starts to curl, especially around my ears. The result was little wings flipping out at my ears. Scruffy, and a little goofy.<\/p>\n

Today I tried to communicate what I wanted, but I knew in the end that I would just end up getting whatever \u00e7\u00a7\u2039\u00e5\u00b1\u00b1\u00e3\u0081\u2022\u00e3\u201a\u201c (Akiyama-san) decides is what he wants to cut and I start resembling anime character. Indeed that is what I got. I feel an 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revival approaching, as I now have a lot of weight on top and in the back, but trimmed pretty tight around the ears. Hmmm, was that I wanted? After so much time growing out have I taken a step backward?<\/p>\n

Of course, leaving a haircut, your hair is overstyled compared to every day use. This time he even added a touch of hairspray to volumize the back. Excellent, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what I am going to do. However, I do think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m becoming more Japanese from a style point of view every day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here.<\/p>\n

\"Self<\/p>\n

\"Self<\/p>\n

[Unfortunately I need a shave. It is always hard to take a self portrait with a small camera and a wide angle lens held at arm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s length]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pretty soon I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to dye my hair black and then maybe bleach it to brown. Then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll really be Japanese.<\/p>\n

On Facebook, a friend noted that, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153David Sedaris reports ear boxing from the Japanese barbers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of true, actually. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go to a barber, I go to a salon. There is actually a big difference, but I suspect the massage happens at either place.<\/p>\n

Today my routine was as follows:<\/p>\n