Tae Tokunaga, 40 years old, is working at interior décor shop.

“I met my hairstylist, Mr. Kashiwagi, when I applied for reader hair model for fashion magazine. He changed my style completely to create cutting edge bob style which was really popular. Since then he has been my hairstylist for 6 years, and bob became my standard hair which has long enough length to tie up my hair.” Tae said.

“With keeping the same length, I enjoy the changes that my hairstylist create.” Tae said.

“I created a style which looks great for both daily and special occasions depend on hair styling. I kept the hair along her neck long, and cut bang to have round shape which she can leave it straight or blow to the side.” Mr. Kashiwagi explained.

Mr. Kashiwagi applied gradation cut to boost hair volume at the back of her head, cut the hair at side of her head to have gradually long at the front up to the bottom of her chin, applied layers for bang to top, left bang relatively long, applied gradation cut to the hair along her neck to give a shaped line.

For color, he retouched the root with 5 tone gray color Be6 from Napla brand, applied 3:1 ratio mixture of 7.5 tone noble plum and 7.5 tone brown from Milbon Ordeve to create a fashionable color.

Tae’s new hair style looks cool but also feminine. Her style looks simple but a lot of techniques behind by Mr. Kashiwagi.

“Mr. Kashiwagi cuts my hair very carefully and precisely.  After I have his hair cut, I feel great and comfortable with the style as well as the texture of my hair. The length give me a freedom to enjoy different styling and look, and its round shape fits my character.”  Tae said.

Tae said that she felt much more confident of herself and comfortable when she became 30s compared to her 20s. How does she feel to be 40s?

“I am a little more concious about my body and face, however I should not worry too much and be myself.  When I was in my 20s, I tried to be more matured and probably looked older than now.  I would like to try different fashion in my 40s, probably more “kawaii” (cute) fashion.  I like Mr. Kashiwagi’s fashion which looks cool but also has a sense of humor like a young boy.” Tae said.

When we find a hairstylist whom we can trust for the style and sense of fashion, we can relax and leave our styles to the stylist.

Hair salon: HOULe

Hairstylist: Yutaka Kashiwagi

Official website:

Photo by Akio Nakamura

Text by Hanako Maruyama