Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

I had my hair done this morning. Now, I'm sure that sounds like a rather typical thing to do, getting hair cut and highlighted, right? But being a foreigner in Japan, admittedly a rather vain foreigner at that, at least in terms of my hair color, this morning was more like taking my life into my own hands.
See, I've gone and broken it off with my wonderful Tokyo stylist. For over 2 years I've been faithful to him, making the long trip for a little 3 hour rendezvous. But...he went and changed. So much for that saying 'It's not you, it's me'. It was definitely all him! First off, he went and got his own salon. Great, right? Expanding, acquiring a little real estate. I love a man with ambition. But...then he upped his rates, too. I just couldn't force myself to pay $75 for a haircut, that on top of travel expenses. Even if he is a salon director now. I guess he's just out of my league. (Sniff, sniff). I know he'd take me back if I came crawling with a hunk of cash, but I've got more pride than that!
So...I gathered myself together, forced myself to move on. And luckily, I had happened to hear about a new guy, one right here in town who used to do hair in California and speaks pretty decent English. What had I got to lose? Certainly not my old stylist; he's already long gone!
I have to admit that I was decidedly iffy when I walked into his salon, and probably would've never set foot in the door if he hadn't come highly recommended. He's got a one-man show; his salon is just screaming for a cleaning woman; that and maybe an update from the early 70s. It made me think of one of those old-school salons where old ladies come in and rinse their hair blue or get poodle perms. And indeed, one purple-haired little old lady made an appearance while I was there. But at least all of his products and tools are spanking new.
And...his English was pretty good, and his hair styling skills even better! I think I'm sold. He imports his dyes from England or the US, since, as he told me today, Japanese law doesn't allow for as much peroxide in bleaches as the US laws do. Who knew. So perhaps that's why my hair has a tendenceny towards 'BURNT ORANGE' here!
Finally...he's more than affordable! While I will dearly miss the calming atmosphere of the salon in Tokyo, the mini massages, the iced tea and chocolates, and my very hip stylist, I think I've found my new man....