Japan's blondes vanish as women turn to dark side

[trogdor]

http://reuters.excite.com//article/20060224/2006-02-24T162046Z_01_N24165684_RTRIDST_0_ODD-JAPAN-HAIR-DC.html

Ten years ago, a stroll through central Tokyo could leave travelers wondering what country they were in as they watched a parade of tanned, fair-haired women walking tall in precarious platform shoes.

Even Ayumi Hamasaki, the Japanese pop world's answer to Madonna, has dyed her trademark platinum locks sleek black to stay ahead of the curve.

-clip-

"What's seen as attractive now is to look well groomed and cute," said hairdresser Yuko Shimizu of the afloat-f salon in Tokyo's trendy Aoyama district. "People want natural-looking shiny hair, whereas dyeing it blonde tends to damage it."

Neighboring countries are providing inspiration, with popular actresses Zhang Ziyi of China and Choi Ji-woo of South Korea often seen showing off their glossy dark hair in TV commercials that emphasize their Asian identity.

-more at link-

FWIW, I always thought shiny black hair on Asian women was teh hawt.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. When I first went to Japan in 1977, there was a fad for dying one's

hair red.

Only the hair dye was of poor quality, so a lot of young people were going around looking like rusted wrought iron. However, some Japanese people have natural auburn highlights in their hair, and dye jobs that brought that out were actually quite attractive.

The more recent fad was "chappatsu," a slangy way of saying "brown hair." When I went in 2000, it was a sign of rebellion. In 2002, it was mainstream. In 2004 and 2005, it was increasingly limited to the types who hang on to a fad too long.

[JI7]

2. are fads in Japan more widespread than elsewhere ?

especially among the young people ?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Not really, they just have their own fads different from ours

:-)