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When you come to Japan to study at a university or other schools, you must prepare to learn Japanese customs to start your new life.
In this article, I am going to introduce you some useful words and phrases when you visit a hair salon to cut your hair!
Please memorize and use them to get a perfect hair cut!
1. How to say if you want to volume down your hair?
Some people have a volume and are in trouble when they cut their hair.
Especially, ladies may pay attention to their hair for keeping the length.
Then, if you want to volume down and just keep your length, try to use this phrase.
「髪を梳いてもらえませんか」（kami wo suite moraemasenka）as you know, kami means hair and “~senka” is like a “please~” or “would you mind~?” suku means thin out therefore if you just volume down, please use it.
2. How to say if you bring some pictures for your ideal hair cut?
At the hair salon, there are some hair catalogs and examples, but if you have a image of how you want your hair cut, please use this phrase.
「この写真のように切ってください」（kono shashin no youni kitte kudasai）it means “ I’d like my hair cut just like in this picture”. This phrase is very useful if you have some pictures on your phone.
3. How to say if you want to have a short hair?
Speaking about short hair, there are some hair styles in this category.
「髪を短くしてください」(kami wo mijikaku shite kudasai) “Please cut my hair short”
Therefore if you want to cut your hair short, it is better to show some hair catalogs or pictures as your image.
4. How to say if you just want to trim hair?
When you have a long hair and want to trim at a hair salon, it is useful to explain the situation.
「毛先を揃えてください」(kesaki wo soroete kudasai) *soroeru means trim
5. What to say “please do not cut my hair too short”?
You may have an experience that barber cut your hair too short and you wasn’t satisfied with your hairstyle.
In order to avoid such a situation, you have to tell them or write down this phrase.
「あまり短く切らないでください」(amari mijikaku kiranaide kudasai)
6. What to say “please cut my hair a bit more”?
I’ve already showed you how to say “please do not cut too short” in Japanese, so here is to get a shorter length.
「もうすこし切ってください」（mousukoshi kitte kudasai）mousukoshi means “more” and it is useful to adjust the length to get a desirable hair cut.
7. How to tell them about your desirable bangs?
When your bangs grow and don’t have enough time, you might just cut them by yourself, but trimming your bangs at a hair salon is better, as you know.
If you want to leave the bangs just long enough to cover your eyebrows, please use this phrase.
「眉が隠れるくらいに切ってください」(mayu ga kakureru kuraini kitte kudasai)
Mayu means eye brows, so if you want to explain the desirable length of your bangs, it is also useful to say “Please cut the bangs until here”「前髪はこの辺りでお願いします」(maegami wa konoataride onegaishimasu)
8. What to say “Could I get some layers”?
It is similar to “Thin it out a little” that I’ve already noted above, however you want to say “I’d like to get some layeres”, it is better to use this one;
「レイヤーを入れてもらえませんか」（reiyaa wo irete moraemasenka）
Layer is same as Japanese language, so you would easily remember.
9. How to say “Could you take about one centimeter off”
In Japan, we do not use inch to explain the length, therefore you have to remember “centimeter” for Japanese. 1 centimeter is about 0.394 inch.
“Could you take about one centimeter off” is 「１センチくらい切ってもらえますか」（Issenchi kurai kitte moraemasuka）
10. How to say “Please keep my sideburns”
Men tend to have their sideburns not too short. Here’s the word to say “Please keep my sideburns” in Japanese.
「もみあげは残してください」（momiage ha nokoshite kudasai）
Momiage means sideburns, so if you want to adjust the sideburns, you can use「もみあげはこの辺りでお願いします」（momiage wa konoataride onegai shimasu）. You can explain the desirable sideburns to your barber.
How did you like it? When you visit a hair salon in Japan, try to use those phrases to get a desirable hairstyle!
Ruka / Japan
