Cool Hunting

When you're a salaryman (Japanese white–collar worker), time is precious. You've got to look your best. Always. So, in between meetings with clients, busy business men head over to Menza where they can pay ¥500 (around $4) to have their suit pressed in ten minutes, ¥1,000 ($8) gets eye brows trimmed or shell out ¥300 ($2) to have staffers with pom–poms cheer while salarymen chug an energy drink. (Pictured below.) Other services include useful services like hand massages, watch cleaning and selecting a working man's "image color." Me? I'm a navy.

And if your gorgeous salaryman locks need a trim? Head over to QB House, which is located in convenient places like subway stations. There's a single light that tells customers how quickly they can get their hair cut. Green means no wait. Yellow means 5–10 minutes. Red means more than 15 minutes. (Pictured above right.) Buy a ticket from the vending machine, tell the stylist what kind of 'do you want and an LED monitor counts off the time. Customers get a quick "air wash," then the stylist gets to work. Sweep up hair? Ha! Vacuums tubes are used. The mirrors the customer looks in even doubles as a closet (to save time getting your coat afterwards). In addition to a haircut in ten minutes and for ¥1,000 ($8), customers get free combs as well as a souvenir. Lucky them.

by Brian Ashcraft