Month: July 2019

We’ve found that it’s often the little, day-to-day things that challenge us as expats in a foreign land. One of those things is … the haircut.

At home in the US, there are lots of options for haircuts. Cheap, in-and-out-in-10-minutes places, or ultra cool (and mega expensive) designer hair salons. Quite similar here in Tokyo, but there’s another variable — language.

Having lived previously in a country where I spoke the native language, I never gave getting haircut a second thought. Just go into a hair place, tell them what you want them to do, and let the cutting begin. It’s a little different when you don’t speak the language very well.

The first time I got a haircut in Tokyo, I just picked a local place, made an appointment (which was challenging in itself, when you don’t speak the language well), and went in. Turned out the person who did the cut spoke no English, and at the time I spoke virtually no Japanese. It was an interesting session. And, he did the entire haircut with a straight razor. I survived, but there were some tense moments.

My wife and I then started to look for other local places. We found a nice little shop near our apartment, and one of the staff spoke a little English. That worked ok — they were very nice, we practiced our Japanese, the lady who spoke some English practiced her language skills, and it was fine.

Later, we found a Japanese stylist who had lived in Australia and London, and speaks very good English. We started going to her, and the communication aspects were much easier.

But alas, we found that there are differences between Japanese hair (and haircuts) and Western counterparts. Not as big a difference for me, but for my wife, the Japanese style of haircut just didn’t work so well. They tend to cut a lot of layers, and my wife found that often her hair grew out in strange and very uneven ways that made it hard to deal with. Not a good situation.

The real deal-breaker came when our Japanese-who-speaks-English stylist moved to a different salon. The new place was going to mean a substantial increase in the cost of a haircut, which by Western standards, was already high. I would have to now pay around 6500 Japanese yen for a hair cut — about $60. And it would be more for my wife. Although that isn’t excessive by Tokyo standards, for me, it’s a lot of money for a haircut. So, it was back to the search for an acceptable salon.

Today, I went back to the local Japanese shop that we’ve visited before. This time, I brushed up on my Japanese and was determined to speak at least a little to explain what I wanted. And, the lady who speaks some English was still there. Between my marginal Japanese and her limited English, we were able to explain to another stylist what I wanted. It was actually a pleasant visit, and I think I got a very good haircut (plus a shampoo, and a nice neck and shoulder massage) for 4100 yen.

I think the local shop is a place I’ll continue going to. It’s nice to feel like, at least a little, I’m now able to fit in to the local culture (and, get a good haircut).

Having been expats in Tokyo for 3-1/2 years, we’ve settled into a kind of routine that happens when a place ceases to be so new and different, and becomes “home.” Here’s how we spent this typical summer Saturday in Tokyo.

After sleeping in a bit (trying to recover from back to back to back travel, which left me with a cold), we headed for the gym. Our “Anytime Fitness” is the same gym we use in the US – our membership is reciprocal in Japan – and is only a 2 minute walk from our apartment. The gym isn’t much different from the US, other than the rule that all tattoos must be covered when using the facilities.

Workout behind us, it was off to our favorite soba noodle place, HakoSoba, for lunch. This was one of the first restaurants we visited when we moved to Japan, and it’s become a weekly necessity. For less than 500 yen (about $4.50) we get a bowl of steaming hot, yummy noodles. I’m not sure what we’ll do without our soba place when we move back to the US.

Our plan today was to visit the Shitamachi Tanabata festival in Kappabashi, a part of Tokyo a short walk from Asakusa Station. Tanabata, otherwise known as the Star Festival, is a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, representated by the stars Vega and Altar. Interesting story – Google it for more details.

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The streets were decorated with lanterns, streamers, and bamboo branches. And lots, and lots of people. Street food, drinks, games, toys and a parade! School kids marching in bands (grade schoolers with their music memorized!), and preschool kids with pom poms, dancers, tricked-out Harley motorcycles – just a festive event with everyone having a good time.

This is one of the longer festival streets, probably a mile or so from Asakusa, through Kappabashi, and nearly to Ueno Park. So, while we were in the neighborhood, we took a stroll into Ueno Park.

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At Ueno, there is nearly always some kind of festival. Today, there was a food and drink festival, street entertainers, and many people just enjoying their Saturday in the park. Any time we go to Ueno, we walk around the lake. This time, the lotus plants are just starting to bloom. Lots of people enjoying the paddle boat lake, feeding the birds, and sitting in the park enjoying their “backyard.” Those of us who came from suburbia are used to having space in our yards. For the city dwellers, parks like Ueno provide the green space and contact with nature that is relaxing and enjoyable.

Leaving Ueno, we walked through Ameyokocho, a busy and crowded shopping street. We seldom buy anything, but it’s fun just to walk through and watch the people. The street parallels the Yamanote train line, so we caught a train at Akihabara Station.

But walking builds up a great thirst, so we exited the train at Hamamatsucho Station and took a short walk to a local craft brewery, Devil Craft. Craft beer is really just getting started in Japan, and Devil Craft has a good selection. Nice place just to rest the feet for awhile.

By the time we finished at Devil Craft, it was time to think about dinner. Today, we visited another restaurant we found only a few days after we moved to Tokyo – Warayaki-ya Tamachi, an Izakaya restaurant near Tamachi Station. This restaurant’s signature dish is bonito – skipjack tuna, not quite raw but just barely seared over a straw fire. Yum.

With the evening winding down, it was time to walk back toward home. On the way is a small pharmacy (you find these all over Tokyo), for a stop to get medicine for the aforementioned cold. We found the cold medicine isle, and seemingly hundreds of boxes of medicine — all totally in Japanese. As we tried to make some sense of what we were looking at, fumbling with Google Translate, another customer approached us and pointed to one box. “Most effective,” he said, in not quite perfect but very understandable English. We’ve had this experience before – a random Japanese stranger offering help when we look lost and confused. Have to love this country.

Our final stop for the day… the grocery store. In the US, it was common just to drive to the store once a week, buy a week’s worth of groceries, load them in the car and be done. Here, it’s different. It’s a kilometer walk from the grocery store to home, and there is a definite limit to how much can be carried. So, trips to the store become almost a daily experience. Bottle of wine, milk, fruit, veggies…necessities for the next days.

That’s our typical Saturday in Tokyo. Maybe not exciting or glamorous, but a life we have come to love.

Oh… And the mileage for today… 7.5 miles!