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Hello Kitty hair salon

author Posted by: kirin on date Aug 20th, 2010 | filed Filed under: Daily Life, Something Weird...

Since I had a discount ticket from Swimmer that can be used only Kawasaki – Yokohama area, I visited Lalaport Yokohama shopping mall for the first time the other day to get the goods for giveaway gift. Well, to be exact, I live somewhere just between Shibuya and Yokohama, 15 minutes to each by train. Thus I sometimes prefer going to Yokohama to Tokyo because it’s less people. I don’t like crowds. :p

In spite of weekdays, there were rather many people. No wonder, it’s in the middle of summer vacation for the most of people! As I work from home, my holiday will be when I have less work to be done or when others are working. I even prefer working over weekends, which is again to avoid crowds, and I’d go shopping in a daytime during weekdays. (I like shopping alone, because I’ve never made a great buy when I was with friends. I guess my attention is distracted by chatting more than shopping!) I feel very tired when I’m back from places like Shibuya or Shinjuku. But the fatigue can be healed unbelievably once I take a hot bath. I love bathing but it’s too hot to bathe during summer. icon sad Hello Kitty hair salon

Anyhow I found something weird at the shopping mall. It’s Hello Kitty hair salon!
I saw a little girl having her hair cut while she was crying… This place must be something fun and the parents will have to pay more than they’d do at ordinary hair salons. According to the salon, they let kids watch Sanrio DVD and take a picture with the Kitty doll at the end. The hair salon encourages moms to get their hair done while their kids get a haircut. To me hair salon is sort of relaxing and refreshing place. I felt for busy moms.

hello kitty studio wonder Hello Kitty hair salon

hello kitty hair salon Hello Kitty hair salon

I somehow felt it little weird, though. This weirdness may have something to do with Sanrio Puroland, I guessed. It’s very interesting that I like Hello Kitty more than Disney characters but I like Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea hundred times more than Sanrio Puroland. Well, to be honest, I’ve never been there because I’m not inclined to. Having Hello Kitty goods and being surrounded by Hello Kitty themed interior is quite another thing, although Hello Kitty interior looks more familiar in Taiwan. Especially Hello Kitty doll at the front was weird when we are used to the little Kitty-chan with a large head and too short feet. The balance of the doll is very different from Hello Kitty as a character that we love.

When I felt sick of entire pink with too bright light, I found more pink right next to the Hello Kitty studio. (BTW what color is the complementary color against pink? I wondered how it’d be like to work inside this store everyday from open to close. I’d go crazy if I had to. Likewise I cannot stand listening to the same music on and on… So many things made me end up with working from home. haha…^ ^;)

It’s Pink-Latte, one of the branch stores I have seen in Harajuku. I saw so many teenage kids shopping there. I was just like out-of-place adult who liked to shop something teenage girls loved. Well but I like small goods from Pink Latte. I didn’t know they had so many stores around Japan.

pink latte1 Hello Kitty hair salon

pink latte2 Hello Kitty hair salon

pink latte3 Hello Kitty hair salon

pink latte6 Hello Kitty hair salon

pink latte5 Hello Kitty hair salon

To my surprise, I also found SunHoseki store on the same floor, which I may post under kawaii shop later. SunHoseki is definitely for teen age kids. I believe their goods will be nice souvenirs to kids because they are cheap and kawaii. icon smile Hello Kitty hair salon

Do you have character themed hair salons in your area?

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tag45 Responses to “Hello Kitty hair salon”

  1. Amanda Said,
    August 20th, 2010 at 11:58 am edit

    Yeah that Hello Kitty mannequin is a bit creepy…

    "Do you have character themed hair salons in your area?" Hahaha, I wish!!

  2. Sharon Said,
    August 20th, 2010 at 2:34 pm edit

    the hellokitty salon looked a little odd to me. and the prices for a haircut in this salon is scarily high i ll have to say…and the furniture placing is kinda weird, the best thing should be the LCD at each "counter"/seat. it looks kind of unprofessional from the outside….maybe its the stuffs they had on their glass panels that annoy me.
    i agree with you too ! the place looks slabbed on with hellokitty stuffs to meet the requirement of being a "hellokitty studio"..
    UNLESS they have special hair dye techniques that let me walk away with a hellokitty print on my hair otherwise i will see no reason to walk in there…(but im sure they can do the famous GAGA bow on kids !)
    btw, i dont get why having a trim in japan is pretty expensive but hair colouring is quite cheap (in comparison)?!

    theres no special cartoon-only salons in singapore but there i saw a chain of salon which have special areas for kids to have their trim at, with the fancier colourful decorations compared to their main area for the targeted audience- adults…..

    also, ive received my gift ! wasnt expecting it to be so fast ! thanks :D love the cellphone charm !

  3. sedonia2 Said,
    August 20th, 2010 at 4:44 pm edit

    Wow, that's a lot of Hello Kitty! I'm a Hello Kitty fan but I think I'd get a bit overwhelmed by all that pink too!;)

  4. blooomzy Said,
    August 20th, 2010 at 6:47 pm edit

    I really like Swimmer, and their cute homeware items. I also own some bags and headphones.
    Did you find some nice items?

    I have seen Pink Latte before and I visited because it was so pink and I wanted to see what was inside.
    I agree that it is for teenage girls, so I didn't really like much.

    I really want to visit La La Port, because their CM's are so catchy haha

  5. Troo Said,
    August 20th, 2010 at 7:38 pm edit

    I remember crying at my first haircut. Mind you, apparently my dad cried more when he saw his little girl had all her lovely blonde hair cut off…

    SunHoseki looks brilliant! Was the one in Lalaport Yokohama as large as that in Harajuku or Lalaport Tokyo Bay?

  6. Steven Stier Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 12:01 am edit

    There is an old expression in American advertising. Noone ever went broke UNDERESTIMATING the taste of the American public. It means that no matter how tacky or tasteless a product is Americans will buy it. I guess the same can be said about the Japanese when it comes to Kawaii. You cannot make a product so cute and sweet that no Japanese girls will buy it. In fact they will pay a higher price.

  7. Kaitlyn Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 6:25 am edit

    very Kawaii ~
    the hello kitty outside is very unusual, though!
    pink latte looks sooo Kawaii i want to go there
    i am thinking about in the near future to get a working visa to live in Tokyo!
    i really want to!
    you can show me around Kirin ^.^
    Heheh if you want to ;P

    Byeee~

  8. Kaitlyn Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 6:57 am edit

    Hey! sorry again for another comment!
    do you know where i can get http://www.sunhoseki.co.jp/item/item_detail.aspx?…
    in the USA for cheap? <3

  9. Fran Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 12:41 pm edit

    I loved going inside Pink Latte and those cute pink shops, just for the atmosphere when we were in Tokyo-but I found I never really bought much because I just couldn’t see myself wearing all those cute things as much as I would have loved to! It’s definitely an age thing. And also-people probably wouldn’t take me very seriously here in NZ if I wore things like that everyday lol…

  10. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:26 pm edit

    Haha, I cannot imagine any character themed hair salons in Australia… ^ ^;

  11. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:35 pm edit

    Usually hair cut at nice relaxing hair salon in Tokyo costs 5000-6000yen and hair color is also 5000-7000yen. If we go to Harajuku – Aoyama district, the price is rather higher, while the price is less than 5000yen when we go to more local salons.

    Oh, how quick! Sounds like you received in a week, because you are in the same Asia pacific area? No other winners ever contacted me so I guess you received soonest. ;)

  12. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:36 pm edit

    Nice 心 (kokoro) Kanji gravator. :)

  13. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:39 pm edit

    I saw many kawaii items there, although again I was like out of place among teenagers. haha ^ ^;
    I really liked the pouch I bought for the giveaway gift and actually I bought some small goods for myself, too. ^ ^;

  14. sedonia2 Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:41 pm edit

    Thanks, Kirin! It's actually the logo for one of my publishing imprints, Kokoro Press. My romance imprint is Ai Press. I designed the logos myself and the artist who does my covers made them pretty. If you'd like to see the full logos (they're really pretty) the two sites are: http://www.ai-press.net and http://www.kokoropress.com talk to you soon!

  15. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:42 pm edit

    I don't know the one in Lalaport Tokyo Bay (I've never been there) but the store in Lalaport Yokohama was very small. But there were way too many people in which I could not move around well.

  16. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:47 pm edit

    I think this salon clearly targets little girls under 6 or something. I don't have kids, but I wonder if I feel like taking my kids there if I were a mom.

  17. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:48 pm edit

    Haha, I'm sure you will be disappointed so many things in Japan. It's not only kawaii paradise here. ^ ^; But it's nice you have specific dream you want to achieve. ;)

  18. Troo Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:50 pm edit

    Summer holiday though. Maybe it'll be less crowded during a normal week when all the little darlings are at school :D

  19. kirin Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 1:55 pm edit

    I'm sorry I have no idea about the U.S. Such hair accessories are sold everywhere in Japan, how about Clair's? That's originally an American store, isn't it? http://www.claires.com/index.asp

  20. Miki Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 4:28 pm edit

    Ah! very kawaii! :D The only themed stores I see around where I live (along the south pacific coast of the U.S) are mostly Winny the Pooh stores. But those are for kids around 1-3 ages ^ ^; I like to go there though…The plushies are adorable!

  21. japgirl:) Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 8:25 pm edit

    i saw your pics and i always wanted to go to pinklatte looks cute do you know what age is suitable for them im a teen and japanese. i might go to japan next year and i was also wondering where some Pinklatte shops will be

  22. Sabrina Said,
    August 21st, 2010 at 10:05 pm edit

    I really like the PinkLatte shop. It's so vintage! But a little too pink for me! haha :D

  23. kaitlyn Said,
    August 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 am edit

    we have 1 claires here in town but it doesnt have anything to kawaii ;[
    how much are they where you live? ^.~
    they dont ship them here otherwise id just buy it from japan!

  24. Apple Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 12:30 am edit

    i'm so not a fan of hello kitty…maybe it's because i don't like pink in excess! i remember i used to like it in the early 90s where hello kitty theme was in checkered red and white. haha! ^^

    but i do like some sanrio characters…just not Hello Kitty… >"<

  25. noonpuppet Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 2:03 am edit

    I really like those cute pink shops especially for the Pinklatte shop !! :) )

  26. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 3:49 am edit

    Interesting. Well actually I've been interested in the fact that you often create Japanese characters and try to have some Japanese locations in your works (like "Harajuku" from your previous comment somewhere). Now Ai and Kokoro are both in Japanese. I've been curious about these things. ^ ^

  27. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 3:52 am edit

    Here's a link to clairs in Japan. http://www.clairesn.co.jp/

    Do you see difference? More kawaii or not much different?

  28. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 am edit

    Wow, are you from New Zealand? I think you are the first contact from NZ! Although there are some readers in Australia I was wondering why I come across no Kiwi here. I hear that people in NZ like simple life and outdoor. Kawaii things may not be well received in NZ??

  29. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:02 am edit

    Ah Winny the Pooh store! I remembered something interesting. You know characters shops are everywhere in Japan and they are targeting adults, too. But when I traveled Amsterdam, I was so surprised that I saw only a few miffy stores there. You know it's famous for miffy (http://www.miffy.com/) right? I thought there should be more stores but miffy store was apparently targeting small kids only! What a surprise!! In Japan whether kids or adults, everyone likes to shop Hello Kitty or Rilakkuma or any kind of characters.

  30. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:04 am edit

    Pink-Latte is targeting like 13-17 years old school girls, I guess. But I personally don't care which age group is suitable because I like what I like. :p

  31. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:05 am edit

    Little too pink, but it'll be OK as long as you are a customer. If you have to work there 8 hours everyday, that'll be tough. lol

  32. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:11 am edit

    Even though there are many nice cute characters other than Hello Kitty, Hello Kitty is still the top of all. Oh I saw some old Sanrio characters reprented these days.
    I saw Gotopikadon (http://www.sanrio.co.jp/characters/detail/goropikadon/index.html) and Tuxedo sam (http://www.sanrio.co.jp/characters/detail/tuxedosam/index.html) at the front of a Sanrio shop in this mall. I believe you don't even know these old characters because these were one of my favorite characters when I was a kid. Natsukashii~~ ^ ^

  33. kirin Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 4:13 am edit

    I like your mirror deco. I tried to post a comment but I failed with some error.

  34. Sharon Said,
    August 23rd, 2010 at 5:02 am edit

    um yeah, but hair colouring is much more expensive than a haircut here. but a hair cut is much much cheaper.
    the price of hair colouring here ranges around the same price as tokyo…..depending on the length, if its long it cost much more. (thanks for self-dye kits !)
    BUT, for a haircut(+wash&blow) its normally priced around 1/3 or half (~3000yen) at a salon in the mall, if its not in a shopping mall its much cheaper.. and im quite shocked why does hair trimming in japan is so costly yet hair colouring isnt. maybe its here that is odd? l:

    haha yeah im amazed too, i thought it will take up at least 2 to 3 weeks. (:

  35. kirin Said,
    August 24th, 2010 at 6:59 am edit

    It's possible Japanese hair salons try to make money at least from trimming. Not everyone likes to adopt haircolor because we can also do it by ourselves with the kit from drug store. ^ ^;

  36. Kaitlyn Said,
    August 26th, 2010 at 3:14 am edit

    seems more Kawaii to me.
    but our Claire's really sucks the town i live in isn't a great town and has really Un-Kawaii things
    ;[
    we have to much of the same thing in such a small town.

  37. Lore Said,
    August 26th, 2010 at 8:42 am edit

    It's really weird, I had seen hair salons specially for kids, with dolls, and the chairs are like toy cars or things like that but a hair salon of hello kitty, no definitly I hadn't seen that.
    The outside dolls with the hello kitty head is creepy

  38. kirin Said,
    August 27th, 2010 at 2:33 am edit

    LOL "The outside doll with the hello kitty head is creepy," I guess this is what I felt weird.

  39. kirin Said,
    August 27th, 2010 at 2:34 am edit

    Clair's or Forever21 are from the U.S but sometimes people from the U.S say Japanese ones are more kawaii. ^ ^;

  40. Baby Girl Said,
    November 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm edit

    WOW!!!!! OMG….I have not seen a hair salon like this before. And I am a die hard Hello Kitty fan…I can not believe this.It is so cool.

  41. Baby Girl Said,
    November 22nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm edit

    True :P

  42. kirin Said,
    November 23rd, 2010 at 12:49 am edit

    If you are such a big HK fan, have you checked out this post?
    I think you'll love it, too. ^ ^ http://tokyokawaiietc.com/archives/6421

  43. travel delhi Said,
    March 5th, 2011 at 5:49 am edit

    i thing this hair salon is for the girls only….

  44. Hello Kitty Said,
    July 1st, 2011 at 2:08 am edit

    I love the Hello Kitty Salon. Really wanna go there just to have some fun and of course, picture taking which is my fave part. Lol.

  45. Hello Kitty Said,
    August 19th, 2011 at 4:11 pm edit

    Oh, my God, i want shopping in hello kitty mall too… love the kitty. <3

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