Behind London’s Obsession With Japanese Hairdressers

The rise and the future of London’s favourite Japanese hair wizards — hear it from themselves.

A map of Japanese hair salons in London. Diagram by Anderson Hung.

In the four years I’ve lived in London, I’ve cycled through several hairdressers and picked up countless recommendations along the way. They all share one thing in common — they’re Japanese.

A quick Google search will lead you to around 40 London hair salons that are Japanese-owned or primarily staffed by Japanese hairdressers, clustered in either the capital’s glamorous Soho or edgy Shoreditch. Some of them are also directly affiliated with established salons in Japan — Haco, with two East London locations, for example, are ventures of Tokyo-based Haco Group. And the list doesn’t include freelancers, agency-represented hairstylists, and hairdressers practising in their private studios. Likewise, a glance at the hair credits of shoots, editorials, and catwalks reveals just how deeply Japanese hairstylists are woven into London’s creative industry — you get my point.

Sure, we all love the Harajuku-reminiscing neon balayage highlights, wispy bangs, playfully textured layers, and chicly asymmetrical cuts. But beyond the physical appeal, how did the extensive community of Japanese hair professionals get here in the first place, and how has it evolved?

The growing East Asian diaspora in London might have helped, especially young international students who could afford expensive hair treatments, as Japanese hairdressers are more experienced with the texture of East Asian hair. But the popularity of Japanese hairdressers has grown beyond the East Asian community.

With the arrival of fashion designers Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto in Paris, the Japanese avant-garde rippled in London as early as the 1980s. In the following decades, magazines like FRUiTS, Boon, and Kera accelerated the global export of Tokyo’s eclectic youth subcultures — think androgynous, maximalist, and DIY-heavy, which heavily influenced the Japanese hairstyles we love today. Tumblr and later Instagram furthered the popularity of these subcultural styles.

It’s not difficult to imagine how youth in London, a city that still indulges in its thriving subcultures, resonates with the radical unconformity and boundary-pushing expressiveness in Japanese hairstyles. Many Gen-Z Londoners are seeking alternatives to beauty standards, and Japanese hairstyles offer a visually distinct, gender-fluid aesthetic. But the inherent rebelliousness of the hairstyles is only half of the appeal; the other half lies in the hairdressers themselves.

“I believe the high regard for Japanese hairstylists in London is largely thanks to the exceptional skills of those who came before me,” said Mai, creative stylist and salon manager at Soho’s My Snug Room, who came to London in 2018 and attributes her compatriots’ popularity to a meticulous attention to detail and a consultative, craft-based approach.

“I think Japanese people tend to be diligent and have a bit of an ‘otaku’ mindset,” said Mai, comparing her craft to the Japanese obsessiveness when it comes to mastering a particular passion. The slow progress to artisan craftsmanship is a Japanese stereotype she embraces. Before London, Mai studied for two years at a Tokyo beauty college before obtaining a license and working at a salon for four years. “The salon was strict with a demanding curriculum and many tests, so every day I had to practise after hours and spend my days off at study sessions and photoshoots,” explained Mai. “Then I had to work two years as an assistant before becoming an actual stylist.”

After leaving Japan, Mai also spent a month at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in London, where she furthered her training, “learning to work with non-Asian hair types” and familiarising herself with local stylistic tastes.

This is resonated by Akihiro Ueno, salon manager of Soho’s Noh Hair, who worked at a celebrated hair salon in Japan and “learned the craftsmanship from well-trained, well-established, and well-educated people” before coming to London five years ago. According to Ueno, the popularity of Japanese hairdressers started growing in London drastically around five to seven years ago. “People think Japanese hairdressers pay close attention to details and make you feel at ease.”

London’s growing appreciation of Japanese crafts, also evident in the growing popularity of Japanese fashion, ceramics, matcha rituals, and artisan sushi omakases, is only one part of the equation. There is also a social factor. “Many of us also lack confidence, which drives them to constantly pursue higher levels of skill and being more sensitive to what clients want,” Mai added.

There is a reason why, despite having the second most powerful passport in the world, only 18% of the Japanese population are passport holders, as opposed to 44% in the US and 75% in the UK. Besides having long working hours and short holidays, this phenomenon is tied to a widely studied sense of social displacement that Japanese people experience when exposed to foreign values, languages, and social norms. However, Japanese hairstylists are increasingly overcoming this social anxiety through their skills, drawn by a growing appreciation and demand for their craftsmanship, which is deeply intertwined with their cultural identity.

“Despite the language barrier, my customers are always satisfied with the haircut I give, and I’ve built a community of loyal, returning customers,” said Yuki Watanabe of Hackney’s Cleve Hair, who came to the UK last April. “It’s a city where you can find many opportunities if you take initiative — people believe in your opinions, and you feel that you are truly needed.”

The aforementioned long working hours in Japan and the society’s conformity-prizing homogeneity, while holding people back, could also be reasons for people to leave. A Japanese hairdresser who has previously worked in Tokyo and Beijing has told me that the high-pressure work environment and little to no work-life balance drove him to leave East Asia behind. Currently, he owns a salon in East London and is also represented by a London-based creative agency working with clients across the UK and continental Europe.

For those who yearn to leave, London is a logical choice, where professional demand converges with restless, electric creative energies. “Everyone has their unique personality and lives their life the way they want, that’s what I love about London,” said Watanabe.

“I used to live and work in Vancouver, where I had been doing more basic hairstyles and didn’t do much crazy colour or cut,” said Ueno. “London is always busy, trends change, people get bored easily, and you can continually chase new things,” Ueno added.

“The fashion, the music, the underground culture — I love them all,” said Mai, who is accepting and celebrating the differences in London. “Compared to Japan, things may be less convenient, but even those inconveniences inspire creativity and new ideas."

Another perk of being a Japanese passport holder is eligibility for the UK’s Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). Introduced in 2008, it is essentially a working holiday visa that grants two years of legal working status to young citizens of Japan and eleven other countries. As of May 2025, the only requirements for Japanese nationals are to be under 30 and have £2,500 in savings, with no language, academic, or skills requirements, making this a popular route for Japanese hair professionals to relocate abroad.

The YMS offers extensive flexibility as it doesn’t require sponsorship from a workplace. This allows Japanese hairdressers to freelance, start their own business, or even host clients at home to cut down costs. While high-end Japanese salons could charge as much as £120 for a haircut, “work from home” Japanese hairdressers could charge as low as £23. This wide price range makes their services accessible to a more diverse demographic, from budget-conscious students to those willing to pay a premium.

Many Japanese hairdressers who came through the YMS, such as Mai, have continued to stay in the UK with a Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship from their workplace, which lasts another five years. On the other hand, some choose to explore their trade in other international cities or return to Japan after their visa expires. Watanabe, who will be returning to Tokyo this year, expressed her love for London, but also expressed that you don’t need a special reason for wanting to go home.

Friendly immigration policies and a growing local demand have fostered a creative ecosystem that’s unique to London, where Japanese hairstylists come and go in cycles. The community’s loyal following is still growing through social media and word of mouth in tight-knit cultural networks, especially among fashion students, creatives and the East Asian diaspora, which form a majority of their clientele.

In January 2024, the Home Office also quadrupled the number of Japanese nationals eligible to apply for the scheme to 6000 each year. However, in light of the recent tightening of immigration measures, the future of this ecosystem remains uncertain. Perhaps, the question is no longer just why so many Japanese hairdressers are here, but how much longer they’ll want to stay and whether or not London remains appealing enough for them to do so.

“I was planning to apply for permanent residency next year so I could have the flexibility to work from either London or Tokyo,” said Mai, who has almost spent five years on a Skilled-Worker visa, making her potentially eligible for settlement. “But the government recently announced the plan to double the requirement, and whether I could apply for it next year or not will determine if I stay or return to Japan for good.”

“Honestly, I don’t think London is special,” added Ueno. “The more I travelled to other countries, and went back to my hometown in Japan, the more I realised every place is special.” Whether or not Japanese hairdressers will explore other fashion capitals where demand is also high and whether or not the next generation of hair professionals will follow remain unanswered.