"They asked me detailed requests like, 'Do you like it more natural? 3mm is OK here, right?' I was a little surprised. I thought they'd be more flexible in deciding my hairstyle. I think I had more of a conversation there than I did when I cut my hair in Japan," says Yashiro Shinya, an editor who first got a haircut at BLIND BARBER in Japan. Blind Barber, which launched in New York in 2010, opened a pop-up store at the Todd Snyder Townhouse in Jingumae on November 6th for just one day. Its popular concept of a barbershop combined with a bar and cafe has led to similar cafe-and-barber complexes becoming a new trend in New York men's hair salons. The store currently has three locations: one in New York's East Village, one in Brooklyn, and one in Los Angeles. While BLIND BARBER brand grooming products began selling in Japan this summer, this is the first time they've offered a real barber. Rob McMillen, known for being the hardest barber to book in New York City, also visited Japan and gave a limited-time haircut to just five people in Tokyo.
"We started this style five years ago because there were no places for men to get their hair cut. I heard it was the same in Japan, but back then, the only options were a classic barbershop or a salon where you could sit next to women in a chair. So we came up with the idea of offering haircuts in a classic clubhouse-like setting, like the clubs my grandfather used to go to when he was young. A place where you can go even when you don't have anything special to do, drink beer, watch sports on TV, read the newspaper, or play cards with friends," says Blind Barber CEO Jeff Rowe. In fact, the US store offers a wide selection of food, from original cocktails to sandwiches, and haircuts are reasonably priced at around 4,500 yen.
This is Jeff's first visit to Tokyo. He excitedly explains that Todd Snyder's store "was the perfect space for us." The bar and cafe space on the second floor served Brooklyn Lager beer, clubhouse sandwiches, and Good Town Donuts from the neighborhood. The brand's products and T-shirts were also on sale, just like the New York store. It seems no joke when the owner excitedly said, "I want to open a fourth store in Tokyo" (same source).
Text: Noda Tatsuya
