Every Barber Knows That

How to order a haircut? I believe it’s very important issue for people living in foreign countries. Since I came to the US, I've got haircuts for three times so far. The first two experiences in barbers were just disaster. Guess whom I found in the mirror in front of me just after the barber handed me my glasses at my first visit to a barber’s. Answer: Asian Mr. Spock with glasses. Certainly, some male here don’t have their sideburns, but it’s not common in Japan. My basic principle to live in the US is “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” but I just cannot accept this American way of sideburns. The problem is that I cannot see the process of haircut because I have to take off my glasses during the haircut. My friend, who listened to my compliment, told me that when I make an order, I should put both index fingers on my sideburns and clearly ask the barber to keep them.

So, at the next time, I visited a different barber’s on the same street and made an order as my friend instructed. I also asked the barber to show me hair sample photos and selected one of them to make sure my order. Guess whom I found in the mirror in front of me just after she handed me my glasses. Answer: Asian Mr. Spock with glasses and sideburns. I was so surprised to see slightly upgraded Mr. Spock again in a different barber's that I lost my words to claim her that mine was totally different from the sample. Instead, I was impressed by the fact that American barber industry shares such a standardized technique to cut front hair so shortly and neatly to make the bizarre horizontal border line between front hair and forehead.

Finally I got an important lesson: I should not use barbers because for them sideburns and long and unordered front hair are the deadly enemies to be eliminated from this earth. So at the third time, I visited a hair salon in a shopping mall. The price was higher, but I was satisfied with the result. Actually, more important is that I was prepared because I checked the vocabulary for haircut order through the Internet like this: “Today, I just want you to trim and thin out my hair because it’s too thick. Please cut my side and back hair a little bit, but don’t cut the front hair. Also, I don’t want to clean up my sideburns, OK?”

Today I’m going to cut my hair for the first time after two months. I’ll visit a hair salon again instead of a barber’s just because I’m not sure a barber will listen to my request. I just hope this time will be successful. If you know the better way to order, just tell me immediately.

Hooters Experience

To celebrate my friend’s return to Japan, we visited Hooters, the American restaurant chain, which is famous for sexy waitress. I have been interested in this restaurant, but I felt somewhat ashamed to visit alone, but I could find the good reason to do that finally.

Yes, the waitresses there, Hooters Girls, are very sexy. To me, it sheds light on some of the values shared in American society: especially what is sexy to people here. The waitresses wear their uniform of a white tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Isn’t it funny?) on the front paired with the short orange runner's shorts. In Japan, there is no such a restaurant chain which sell not only foods but also sexiness, with one exception, Anna Miller's. This restaurant is also famous for the waitresses’ “sexy” costume. Wikipedia explains that these consist of a white blouse; an orange or pink miniskirt jumper-style dress, with the waistline cut underneath the breasts; a matching apron; and a heart-shaped name tag (I haven’t visited there actually). Anna Miller’s were originally from Hawaii, but the costume in Japanese Anna Miller’s is different from Hawaii’s one. What is interesting to me is that this costume and the girls in Hooters seem to represent American males’ taste on female sexiness, and those in Anna Miller’s do Japanese taste, and they show sharp contrast. Hooters’ outfit is more scanty, and Anna Miller’s one is more elegant maids-like (but still sexy, I guess), which resemble to the costumes used in anime-inspired Maid Cafes in Japan. What I want say is that what is sexy to American (males, and females too) is much more open and casual than Japanese one.

Hooters sell many kinds of merchandises too. White T-shirts with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Again, isn’t it funny?) on the front is 10.99 dollars. Good price. They also sell a white tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Again, isn’t it funny?) on the front, which waitresses wear. How much do you think is it? IT IS THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS! They are really doing good business. Their pricing is wise because they know that the simple fact that the waitresses wear them adds special value on these tank tops (I strongly believe that the cost of the tank top is not so different from T-shirts one). This tank top is the symbol of the enjoyable experience in the restaurant, and also fun communication with waitress (For example, they generously accept costumers’ requests to take pictures). Also, it could be good small topic to talk with your friends if you bring it to party or something. Some of T-shirts are for youngsters. Boys’ T-shirts come with the logo of HOTTERS LADIES MAN, and girls’ one has FUTURE FOOTERS GIRL. I’m not sure that parents here allow their children to wear them and they could be appropriate gifts for your nephews and nieces, but I like this kind of sense of humor.

So, I bought one T-shirts for myself (My friend also bought two! Good souvenir.). However, I guess wearing it in Princeton is a bit dangerous. I also got one tank top for my wife because today is her birthday. She is not Hooters Girls type (the opposite, I should say). I just hope that she will understand my sense of humor.

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. I saw many customers in the flower shop beside my office. According to Wikipedia, it is the traditional day in North America and Europe on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. My American friend told me that this reciprocal gift exchange is mainly done by young couples before marriage.

Japan also has this holiday, but there are two huge differences. One is that only women sent gifts to men, not vice versa. It’s not reciprocal but exclusively women’s day. However, men who have received Valentine’s Day gift are expected to return some gifts to women one month later, on March 14, which is called as “White Day.” Another difference is appropriate gift for Valentine’s Day. While other stuff such as necktie is also allowed, it should be basically chocolate. On the other hand, candy has been considered as White day gift.

So Japanese Valentine’s day is rather distinctive holiday form Western standpoint. Why such differences? While, generally speaking, the origin of customs shared in societies is very difficult to trace, the creator of Japanese Valentine’s day is well known: Kunio Hara, the CEO of Mary’s Chocolate Company. This confectionary company was founded by his father in 1952. Hara, who worked at his father’s company as a part time worker, received the mail from his senpai, an elder friend or mentor, who worked as an employee at the trading company in Paris. The senpai wrote him that French had a custom that lovers send flowers, cards, and chocolate each other on February 14. This letter made him to propose his father to utilize this European custom to sell their chocolate products and gained his father’s approval. His first attempt in 1953 was totally failed. At the shop in Isetan, the department store in Tokyo, he sold only three packages during three days of the sale because Japanese were unfamiliar with this custom.

However, his father gave Mr. Hara another chance to hold the sale in the next year. He created new products such as heart mark shaped chocolate and constellation mortified chocolate. He also devised the service to engrave the names of both the senders and receivers on the chocolates at the shops. Most important decision he made was about his campaign that targeted single women customers. He advertised that on Valentine’s Day women were allowed to confess their love to men. At that age, it was unthinkable for the majority, who believed women should obey men’s initiative in any aspects, that women confess love to men. One the other hand, it was also true that traditional norm that limited Japanese women’s liberty had been disappearing little by little after the WWII. Hara utilized the gradual improvement of women’s status.

His marketing effort made female consumers recognize this holiday gradually, but it became very popular after many magazines, wihch were created in 1950s and 1960s to target young female readership, reported Hara as the creator of Valentine’s Day. Now, sending chocolate on this day is still as important as the traditional seasonal gift-giving custom such as chugen and seibo.

Contrary to Valentine’s Day, the origin of White Day, the men to women day, is not clear. According to one theory, a marshmallow maker started marketing to men on the grounds that they should pay back women with marshmallows. After that confectionary companies joined this campaign, this return gift also become common. Now, the kind of appropriate gifts for White Day is more diverse than Valentine’s Day from white chocolate to candy to gem to lingerie.

I think both holidays diffused deeply in Japanese society because Valentine’s Day enhanced the raison d'etre of White Day and vice versa. In Japan, give-and-take principle is considered as important in gift-giving settings. If you receive something from others, it means you now have a sort of obligation to return something back in near future. The manner book published in Japan tell us (a) you shoud return something if you receive something, (b) the timing of returning gifts should be done around one month later, not so fast, no so late. Valentine’s Day and White Day fit this rule well. Women expect men will give them White Day gifts if women give men Valentine’s Day gifts. It’s a kind of investment. On the other hand, men are obliged to return gift if they receive Valentine’s Day gifts from women. It’s a vicious circle observed in love politics among youngsters in an affuent society.