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Keeping the barber trade alive in Japan
The Straits Times
|July 18, 2025
The event is a bid by the country's struggling barber industry to attract customers lost to hair salons
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TOKYO - Hundreds of rowdy spectators, many heavily tattooed, roared on July 14 at a Tokyo arena usually reserved for boxing except the contestants were not athletes, but barbers.
A dozen Japanese and foreign contestants were taking part in the World Barber Classic, showing off their hairdressing skills surrounded by national flags and the blare of hip-hop tunes.
The event is part of a bid by Japan's struggling barber industry to attract young male clients lost in recent years to hair salons, which are popular for their high-quality services.
"In many countries, men getting their hair cut by barbers is an established culture," whereas in Japan, young men favor salons, competition organizer Sho Yokota said.
This story is from the July 18, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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