The first hairdresser I went to refused to serve me as soon as he found out that I couldn't speak Japanese. The clerk retrieved a piece of paper from behind the counter that said something like
"We only serve people who speak Japanese. If you can't state the style and length of the haircut, we are not allowed to serve you".After reading it, I showed him the picture I had brought with me and asked if that would be sufficient. Apparently it wasn't, and he basically threw me out of the shop.
I have to say, it feels really shitty to be treated like a second-class citizen just because you don't speak the language. Aren't the Japanese supposed to be really polite and helpful? Apparently not all of them are.
Well anyway, I knew that there were a couple more hairdressers in the area, so I proceeded to the next one. The lady at the second place couldn't speak English at all, but after some confusion managed to communicate that they would be happy to cut my hair about 30 minutes later. So I decided to get my weekly shopping done at a nearby supermarket and come back after that.
When I came back, they took my jacket and backpack and asked me to sit down. One lady then draped one of the usual cloaks around me, and after a minute another lady - who would end up cutting my hair - arrived. She took a look at the picture I had printed out and got to work immediately.
What surprised me was that she didn't wash my hair at first, but instead sprayed it with water to get the cutting done. I tried to ask her about it, but apparently she didn't understand me. Well, I decided to trust her hairdressing skills, be patient, and wait to see what happens.
When she was done cutting, she blow-dried my hair, cut some more, asked if I was satisfied (which I was), and then removed the cloak. I thought that this was it, but apparently I was wrong: she gestured towards another chair and asked me to sit down there. The chair tilted back, she put a scented cloth over my face and started washing my hair. It seems they wash the hair after cutting in Japan - which isn't too bad actually because it removes all those tiny pieces of cut hair that would otherwise be left on the head.
After washing, she blow-dried my hair again. She didn't use any styling products like most German hairdressers would - I wonder if that was a communication issue, or if the average Japanese hair just doesn't need volumizing mousse or anything.
When she was done, she showed me result of her work in a mirror again, and then helped me into my jacket. Because it was my first haircut at that place, I got 20% off, so I only had to pay 2800 Yen (divide by 100 to get a rough Euro estimate).
