A friend of ours, Teresa, who has moved to Japan with her husband just this year has recently posted photos of their trip to a local barber shop in their area. Being the ignorant little things that we were, we never really thought much of the story until we realized just how different the whole process of getting a manly haircut in Japan is, as compared to how we do it locally.

As we all know, here in Manila, getting a haircut for guys was simply a matter of choosing a salon or barber shop, then reading a magazine while waiting for a barber or stylist to get to you. Once in the chair, there’s a short discussion on what you want done with your mane, and then the hair cutting process proper ensues. Afterwards, your head and shoulders get brushed with something that looks like a drafting brush, your nape gets powdered, and you walk out of the shop trying your best to either shake out the wayward clumps of cut hair from your head (and your shirt. And your pants. And your arms…) and/or trying your best not to scratch at your shoulders and nape like a mangy dog. After you’re gone, the shop barbers sweep the freshly-fallen hair into a dust pan in the corner and either get to work on the next customer, or resume reading their tabloids.

In Japan, however, the whole process is apparently a whole lot more refined, and here’s how it goes, step by step, as Teresa has informed us.

STEP 1: Upon entering the store, you are greeted by a ticket machine which looks uncannily like the ticket dispensers at our local LRT stations. You feed it 1000 Yen, and you get a stub which certifies, that YES, you are a paying customer and you are there to have your hair trimmed.

STEP 2: A barber seats you in a chair and starts snipping your hair into the style you indicate. The shop might or might not have a set menu of hairstyles for your to choose from.

STEP 3: As they cut away, they grab a vacuum installed somewhere in the ceiling and run it over your head to minimize the amount of rogue strands of hair making falling onto your shoulders and clothes. We wonder if this also serves as a suitable substitute for the scalp massage that local barbers normally give their patrons while in the middle of a haircut.

STEP 4: After the haircut, clumps of hair that made it onto the floor are then diligently swept away by the staff…

STEP 5: …into a waiting vacuum vent installed in the wall, at floor level.

Oh, yes, and Teresa also informed us that instead of being handed a 6-year-old magazine or a well-thumbed newspaper to entertain yourself with as you get a haircut, each cutting area has a small TV installed under the mirror instead. During the time they were at the barber shop, the news was on.

So there you have it, boys who might be getting a haircut in Japan, and girls who might be accompanying boys in getting a haircut in Japan. Nifty, eh? Just remember to have 1000 Yen on you, and do NOT drop any valuables or large amounts of money ANYWHERE near those floor vacuum things, and you should be fine.

Meanwhile, we like to think that if a BARBER SHOP in Japan is like this, HAIR SALONS must have hot tubs, chocolate cake, bean bags and bishonen instead. We can’t wait to see for ourselves someday.