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EveryHairstyle

Barber street or district, Japan

Harajuku, Tokyo

The Tokyo street-fashion district of Takeshita Street: hime cuts, twin tails, bright colour and buns.

Harajuku, around Takeshita Street and Omotesandō in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, became famous in the 1990s and 2000s for the street fashion of young Japanese people, who gathered there on Sundays. Hair was part of the look: the straight hime cut of Lolita fashion, twin tails, buns, pastel and neon colours, and hair decorated with clips and bows. Many of Tokyo's most creative salons are in the area.

Street styles

Harajuku fashion mixed many styles: Lolita, inspired by Victorian and Rococo dress, often with long straight hair and a hime cut; decora, covered in colourful plastic hair clips and accessories; and gyaru, with lightened hair and big curls. Twin tails, two high ponytails, and odango buns, often worn in pairs, were common. Visual kei rock fans copied the dyed, spiked and teased hair of their bands.

The hime cut

The hime cut, hime meaning princess, has long straight hair, a blunt fringe and straight side locks cut at cheek or jaw length. It recalls the long hair of court women in the Heian period, when girls had the side locks trimmed in a coming-of-age ceremony. Revived in Harajuku's street fashion and in anime and manga, it has spread worldwide. The area's salons are also known for bold colour and precise cutting.

Hairstyles of Harajuku, Tokyo

Hime cutThe princess cut of Harajuku Lolita fashionPigtailsTwin tails worn by Harajuku teensBunOdango buns, often in pairs

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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