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Japan’s brown haired plague +
When you think of Japanese hair color, I’m sure that black is the first color that comes to mind. Sure, most people in Japan have black hair unless they dye it. However, there are those with natural colors other than black. The Japan Times has exposed a growing form of discrimination in Japan for those with natural brown hair.
Now I have never changed the color of my hair, and lack the knowledge to know what needs to be done to lighten your hair from black to brown. I suspect the whole brown hair hate stems from the younger generation dyeing their hair lighter in order to stand out and be different. Japan traditionally is a very homogeneous culture that frowns upon that kind of standing out.
However, this idea of wanting to stand out negatively affects those that have no choice but to stand out. The article points out that in order to not attract attention, natural brown haired people have to spend money and time to keep dyeing new growth every week or two. The author then noticed something that went on in staff meetings she attended at a school. She wries,
Later I began to notice during junior high school staff meetings that teachers regularly mention chappatsu (brown hair), when they talk about students’ problematic or delinquent behavior.
So even though you may already know about the younger generation’s desires to stand out, there is also a silent, conformist movement plaguing some in Japan. Personally, I like to see Japanese with brown hair. But I’m used to seeing different color hair. What do you think about this issue?
Read more at the Japan Times.
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What’s that famous Japanese saying about comforming? “The nail that stands up gets hammered down”? Stories like this always remind me of that. =(
I too like the look of brown hair on Japanese. the chappatsu somehow makes them look more exotic.
I personally think the hair colors look beautiful and I can’t really understand why a Japanese person would want to get rid of it. Japan should really just stop with the homogenious bull and accept that there are different types of people in their country. Foreigners included.
brown, black, pink, blue…doesn’t matter to me really
I think that people always want what they don’t have. If they’re short: they want to be tall. If they have white skin:they get tan. This isn’t as bad as Japanese bleaching their hair–that’s a little freaky.
Personally, Japanese people look better with black hair. Other colors of hair don’t suit them. I am not Japanese by the way.
By the way, the Japanese people on this article don’t seem to have natural brown hair.
@Tom: I definitely agree with that.
@Vera: A lot of the people with natural brown hair may really look black with certain lighting. So rather than try to hunt down a natural brown haired person (which seems next to impossible), i went with showing the styles that traditionally frowned upon and started the whole debate.
When I worked on the JET program a 2nd year junior high student in one of my schools had natural brown hair and the teachers would forcibly dye her hair black in the nurses office.
They would take 2 or 3 teachers and 1-2 to hold her arms behind her back and 1 to rub the dye in her head… One of the more disturbing things that I saw and can’t imagine the outrage that would occur if someone ever tries to do this to my daughter.
The reason given to me was that, even though her color was natural it could incite others to dye their hair. Likewise I shave my head and was told when I first started that I would have to grow my hair out or be fired. I told them to fire me and they backed off, but this girl never had a chance to tell them no.