Going to live in Japan for a year. What about my hair?!! (long)

aurora3140

aurora3140

Well-Known Member
I've applied and was accepted to go to Japan to teach English. The minimum contract is a year. I was sooo happy until I started wondering: "What's going to happen to my hair?". I go to a salon for touch-ups every 8 to 10 weeks and I won't be able to travel home that often, maybe once or twice. I'm too scared to self-relax :nono: and I don't want to go natural until I reach my relaxed goal of MBL.

I'm going to buy a wig soon with my refund check. I was thinking I could do cornrows every two weeks and wear them under my wig. Does this sound like a good idea? I also know how to do braid extensions, but my hair is fine and I don't want to lose any of my progress from thinning.

Also, I remember reading that one of the women here had her hair done at an army base in Japan and it turned out well. Hopefully she or someone else with a similar experience can chime in.

Help!
 
I just came back on Monday from Japan visiting a friend who is also teaching English there. She is great peeps. I can give you her info if you would like.

About your hair. Why don't you learn to self relax? If that is not an option braids and/or a wig sound good to me.
 
Wow! I would love to ask her some questions. Could you PM me her email?

I'm thinking the cornrows and wig thing would begin to get boring before the year is up. But, they seem like safe bets to help me retain length.

I don't know what's kept me from self-relaxing all these years. My grandma raised me and is a beautician, so I trust her a lot with my touch-ups and, even though she grumbles about it, now she only trims when I ask her to.

I guess I could try, though. I've read a lot of self-relaxing tips on this forum, like practicing with a thick conditioner and an applicator brush and relaxing and rinsing out in sections. Now that I really think about it, I'm sure I could do it if I read the threads and look at the fotki tutorials.

I guess then I would really be a DIY'er!
 
mrsjohnson75 said:
I think you should consider self relaxing..... with all the wonderful tips on the board, you should do fine. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your vote of confidence! I love this board and how supportive everyone is. I'll think of self-relaxing as a new journey- a brave, new frontier.

BTW, your little girl is so adorable!
 
Which part of Japan? I lived recently in Okinawa for 3 years. There were services provided through the PX and many military spouses had "salons" in their homes.

Me....I cut my my hair the second day of arrival to 1/2 inch TWA. That was after finding out the salon wanted $75.00 to do my hair each time.
 
tthreat08 said:
I vote like the other ladies on board....I'd learn to self relax. You have some time.
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Yeah, I won't be leaving until late July (I think), so I have plenty of time to practice with conditioner. I'll let my Nana give me a touch-up in May before my graduation (I don't want to risk it for my big day) and I can give it a try myself for my July relaxer.
 
Congrats!!! I've always wanted to go to Japan - I hear it's beautiful. It's great that these ladies on the board can refer you to people there who can help you maintain your hair goals. If all else fails self-lax the women on the board are always here to walk you through it.:yep:
 
Ebonybee said:
Which part of Japan? I lived recently in Okinawa for 3 years. There were services provided through the PX and many military spouses had "salons" in their homes.

Me....I cut my my hair the second day of arrival to 1/2 inch TWA. That was after finding out the salon wanted $75.00 to do my hair each time.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure yet. I listed a few areas on Honshu in my application, but they place you where you're needed most.

$75.00! Heck, I would BC, too! Geez, what were they charging you for?
 
trini_rican said:
Congrats!!! I've always wanted to go to Japan - I hear it's beautiful. It's great that these ladies on the board can refer you to people there who can help you maintain your hair goals. If all else fails self-lax the women on the board are always here to walk you through it.:yep:
Click to expand...

Thanks! I've been there once for 2 weeks during my sophomore year and since then, I've been determined to go back.

I agree. This board is such a blessing :grouphug3: . I feel so much better now. I was freaking out!
 
I have a friend who has been living there for a few years, and she strictly wears braids. She said that the water is different and it made her hair fall out, so I think it's best to buy some type of water purifier, just incase it's too hard for your hair.

Also, if you're relaxing you should learn how to self relax, and set your own hair.

I know that I'll be going through this at one point, whenever I go to China with my husband long term, so I am glad that I know how to do my own hair.
 
Hey...I currently reside in Japan. I live in Kobe (just outside of Osaka). I live here w/ my husband and 2 girls. We're here on a corporate move. PM me if you have any questions. I'll be happy to answer.
 
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my best friend lives in japan, she goes to bunka gakuin :yep:. she's found places that has straightened her hair for her when she used to live in wakayama. if you're in tokyou i think it might be a bit harder, a lot of places don't want to do it. >.>; honestly i would recommend that you learn to straighten your own hair, if not, I can ask my friend what system they used on her in oosaka, and you can try explaining it to the hair salons there. (it wasn't exactly a relaxer, it was something different, but it made her 4a/b hair as straight as one)

downfall though is that shiz is expensive. i think it ran her over 100, but i mean hay, its jpn. all i can tell you is STOCK UP on serums if you use them. seriously they do not sell that crap there, which is kind of ridic. my friend is always asking me to ship her serum and stuff...

good luck!
 
When I lived in Asia I self relaxed. I brought over a few jars of relaxer to last me for a while. I took my Caruso and some flexi rods and some hair products and I was ok.

I remember I was walking down the street and a woman stopped me and asked me if I wanted to be a hair model. They would dye my hair and style it. I had my hair in a bun so it looked straight. I said no thanks. I thought to myself there is no way in hell I'm going to let you touch my hair. I know they have never had their hands in my type hair. No way was I going to let them mess it up, it would have been a disaster.
 
I vote that you should self-relax too

But I just wanted to mention that I read that you should not use chemical treatments in Asian countries because their formulas are stronger because of the coarseness of their hair... so I just wanted to warn you not to color your hair while you're over there and by ur relaxer online or bring it with you or something... you'll make it!
 
One piece of advice. I moved to Australia and forgot that the humidity is variable. So check the average humidity in your town and be really dilligent with the moisture. I had a serious setback. By the time I figured it out I lost a chunk out of the back of my hair (you can see it in my sig pic).

The best cheap solution is braiding under a wig with lots of braid spray while you protect. If the water isn't great, it's going to mess with your relaxer too, so just be aware. You've got a lot of time to prepare, so stock up on deep conditioner and relaxer, 'cause even if you find someone to do your hair, you should be consistent with relaxer just to keep the hair healthy.

I guess the really good part is that your seaweed consumption should help you produce some purty hur:grin:!

Congratulations!
 
Speaking of seaweed. I ate a ton of it in Asia and my hair did grow a lot, unfortunately I had breakage and got lazy with moisture so I lost it:sad: . The diet of lots of veggies, seafood, and seaweed did my hair real good.
 
You should learn self relax, but I' m sure that you will see another americans there I know that they have military base there so take an info in your embassy there .
Good luck .
 
Just wanted to add:

Japanese people think naturally curly hair is the bomb! I met so many Japanese people simply through my hair. I was a ROCKSTAR! I'm sure my picture is in magazine throughout:rolleyes:

However if you are sensitive about people touching your hair don't wear it that way...everybody wants to touch it!
 
Thank you all so much. I haven't had a chance to reply to the last page and a half of posts because my senior project is ruining my life, but I greatly appreciate the advice and support!

I'm going to give self-relaxing a try in July and I'll practice until then with my Queen Helene's Cholesterol and my fingers (my Nana doesn't use a brush when she touches me up, just her gloved fingers to smooth).

I've heard that Asians are really into AA culture. I saw it first-hand in Japan when I noticed how many guys and girls tanned their skin super-dark and teased their hair to get texture. A lot of Japanese like "urban" clothes, too. And hey, that Korea Reverse Perm from a few threads back was crazy, huh :drunk:?

I guess it would be a really interesting time to BC and go natural, but I would be sad to loose my progress :sad:.

Hey, if I really suck at self-relaxing, I'll have to cut it all off anyway :lachen:.

Thanks again, ladies! Hopefully, I can meet up with some of you Japan-dwellers some time :grin:.
 
Your mission is to find the most BANGINGEST hair products out there and ship them to me..i mean US.
 
aurora3140 said:
Thank you all so much. I haven't had a chance to reply to the last page and a half of posts because my senior project is ruining my life, but I greatly appreciate the advice and support!

I'm going to give self-relaxing a try in July and I'll practice until then with my Queen Helene's Cholesterol and my fingers (my Nana doesn't use a brush when she touches me up, just her gloved fingers to smooth).

I've heard that Asians are really into AA culture. I saw it first-hand in Japan when I noticed how many guys and girls tanned their skin super-dark and teased their hair to get texture. A lot of Japanese like "urban" clothes, too. And hey, that Korea Reverse Perm from a few threads back was crazy, huh :drunk:?

I guess it would be a really interesting time to BC and go natural, but I would be sad to loose my progress :sad:.

Hey, if I really suck at self-relaxing, I'll have to cut it all off anyway :lachen:.

Thanks again, ladies! Hopefully, I can meet up with some of you Japan-dwellers some time :grin:.
Click to expand...

Where in Japan are you relocating?

And yep, I get a TON of attention here :lachen:
 
aurora3140 said:
)

I've heard that Asians are really into AA culture. I saw it first-hand in Japan when I noticed how many guys and girls tanned their skin super-dark and teased their hair to get texture. A lot of Japanese like "urban" clothes, too. And hey, that Korea Reverse Perm from a few threads back was crazy, huh :drunk:?:grin:.
Click to expand...

I think darkening the skin is only done by a minority radical few. Unfortunately in Japan and many, many, Asian countries the whiter your skin the greater chance for opportunities. I have never seen so many facial fade creams advertising "white and bright" in all my life. China was even worst.

However, the Japanese do like AA culture music, dress, curly hair and "fried chicken." But they are still very much a "pure blooded race."
 
Congratulations on being part of the JET program. My brother teaches at a university out in Japan. Please PM me and let me know what part of Japan you will be in.

As far as haircare goes, you will need to learn how to do your own hair, as microbraids out in Tokyo is about 400 USD. You can ask friends to go to their PX's (military store) and get you some relaxer. Most stores in Japan have stuff like Pantene and even Japanese versions of it too.

A lot of people in Japan put a chemical in their hair to make their hair like ours. They also put the "perm" on their eyelashes to make them curl. I have a thread on my experience in Japan if you do a search. God bless.
 
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