Freelance hairstylist Hiroko Omori was the toast of New York, the most in-demand stylist at a high-end hair salon on Fifth Avenue in New York. She returned to Fukuoka after the birth of her first son, and is now active in Tokyo and New York as well. About 700 people are on a waiting list to get their hair done by Omori in her Tokyo salon.
Setting herself free
Born in 1981 and raised in a strict family, Omori liked drawing and persuaded her parents to let her enroll in a high school that specializes in design. Although she'd dreamed of a free life in high school, she soon learned that the reality was very different. She kept dying her hair brighter but was repeatedly forced to dye it back to black. One day, she even had dye put on her hair by her teacher.
Omori went to a beauty salon in Fukuoka to re-dye her hair neatly and was struck by the sight of a teenage staffer with an Afro. Amid her restricted daily life, Omori thought the woman looked free.
She ultimately decided to become a beautician, thinking, "I can earn money with my own skill and not be bound by school rules." She quit high school, took the university entrance qualification exam and enrolled in Omula Beauty and Fashion College.
"Don't be a jack of all trades and a master of none." With these words from a teacher in mind, Omori practiced more than anyone else at the college .
A vocational school teacher, Yasunori Ueshima, who knew Omori at the time said: "She always had a pure heart and inner fortitude. She doesn't like to compromise. She was the type of a person who lays her own path for the future. She made a very strong impression on me."
Omori applied for a beauty salon where she desperately wanted to work and even presented a "magic show" during a job interview. Unfortunately, she couldn't get a job there and ended up working at another salon.
Conflicts deepen
Omori steadily built up her career and was promoted to a stylist in three years. She sometimes did four customers' hair at once. Back then, popular hairdressers were touted as "charismatic," and a drama featuring a hairstylist became a big hit. A growing number of male customers had their hair cut at salons, helping increase the popularity of hairdressers.
Omori came to work at 7:30 a.m. every morning and left at 11:30 p.m. The salon's priority was to increase customer turnover, and staff often shouted "Do with S1!" a code word meaning "Do it as quickly as possible."
Omori began to feel conflicted, as she wanted to concentrate on one customer at a time. Omori once made a client cry because she was so busy she forgot about the client's hair.
While studying to get even better, Omori encountered a Japanese beautician who came to Japan from Los Angeles, and was totally fascinated by a lecture she gave. She was inspired to quit her job and went to the United States alone at the age of 25, studying at a beauty school while also studying English. Her astonishing concentration enabled Omori to get a U.S. beautician's license only in six months, the shortest time possible.
She hopped from salon to salon in Los Angeles and New York. New York was an energetic and exciting city, and she got a job as an assistant at a high-end salon there. For three years she worked six days a week, doing models' hair for photo shoots on the remaining day.
Ups and downs
"[I came to this salon] because your hairstyle is cool," a customer told Omori, but the manager assigned another staffer to do the customer's hair. Omori complained and was fired, with the manager saying she should go to another salon if she was going to test her ability.
It was another setback, reminding her that "some things in life you can't do even if you try."
Wanting to work at a top-level salon, Omori joined Julien Farel. Omori started making her mark there as an assistant directly under the owner. Some colleagues were jealous of "the small Asian woman" doing well, but customers started choosing Omori to do their hair, and she was promoted from an assistant to a hairstylist.
"I think Japanese people tend to naturally have a talent for reading between the lines. They have a mentality of omotenashi hospitality, and customers can feel it," she said.
Omori had the highest sales for two years in a row at the salon on Fifth Avenue, which is packed with luxury boutiques. She became one of the most popular hairstylists in New York.
Omori had a son and lived in the United States for more than 10 years. Her husband recommended returning to Japan, but she said she didn't want to give up the position she finally held.
"How hard do you think it was?" Omori reportedly told her husband. However, as she spent time with her son, she began to feel inclined to return home. "I should be smiling, and so should my son," she said.
'Just a little bit more'
Three years have passed since she came back to Fukuoka.
"I feel relieved and happy to raise my child in the town where I was born and raised," Omori said.
She's also happy to see her parents interacting with her son. The warmth of Fukuoka is like that of New York, she said, but even so, she "can't imagine continually living in the same place."
In Tokyo, there are many people on a waiting list just for a reservation with Omori. Her genuine vitality is the same as when she was in New York. She goes to Tokyo a few days a month, and even flies to New York and Milan occasionally. Since 2018, she has set up a hair booth to do the hair of tennis players at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament.
After experiencing the world, Omori said she realized the beauty of Asians. "I want to reexamine my identity as an Asian and support Asian people who compete on the world stage," she said.
As a hairstylist, she wants to bring out the beauty of each and every person. And so she puts all her effort into every customer.
"Life is an accumulation of efforts to do 'just a little more,'" Omori said. She said she wants her customers to be cheerful when they leave her salon.
"No matter how hard their life may be, I want my customers to check their face in the mirror and think,'My hair looks great today,' and smile," Omori said.
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