Peer pressure

Last Saturday morning, I had a simple plan: go to Harajuku with a couple of girls to shop for a just a few souvenirs and go home in early afternoon to run some scripts and finally relax a bit. Sounds like a reasonable, harmless plan, until you put 3 somewhat nerdy, normally-not-so girly graduate student girls in Harajuku (teenage girl mecca), who all of a sudden realized that their stay in Japan in almost over and that something exciting needs to be done.

What would that be? A Japanese haircut, of course!

I had no intention of getting a haircut; after all, I've been growing out my hair for many months now. And explaining how I want my hair cut to a Japanese person? forget it. But groupthink got the best of me. We took some "before" pictures:


We bravely opened the door to the Peek-A-Boo salon, lavishly advertised in Guneeta's guidebook. We were greeted by what looked like dozens Japanese men. All dressed in black. As soon as we walk in, they ALL start asking what we want. Talk about overwhelming! We try to explain (mostly using gestures). After lots of nods and very fast Japanese conversation, I'm taken to a chair. An older Japanese guy (owner?) comes along and starts telling the guy how to cut my hair. I don't understand a word, but the older guy has an air of confidence around him, and so I decide to let myself be surprised at the outcome.

I have never seen so many people work at a beauty salon. The Japanese hierarchy system is
ubiquitous; even here, there are guys who wash hair, guys who cut hair, guys who advise on cutting hair, guys who assist with cutting hair, guys that bring things to the guys who assist the guys who cut hair. Yes, they were all men (with 1 or 2 exceptions).


After only about an hour of this madness, the process was complete:

Actually, the madness continues, as my hair now looks like a uniform ball of mess (since I lack both the time and the ability to style it for the 1 hour it took them at the salon). I woke up the next day, felt my head, and thought to myself: "I cant' believe you did that." Oh well, it's a Japanese experience that will stay with me for months to come.