HAYATO SALONS HAKONE

Hayato Salons began in 1992 when its first shop opened in New York, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. The business is part of the Hayato International Salons Group and has since opened branches in Tokyo and London, along with a salon and spa at Hakone. The founder, Hayato Tanoue, started out in Tokyo and moved to New York in 1989 before opening his own salons.

The salon's signature is its Japanese head spa, a shampoo that combines scalp cleansing with acupressure and massage and includes a facial massage. The head spa system is made by Takara Belmont. Betterton Street in London offers the Premium Japanese Head Spa in private rooms with a fully reclining chair, and the salon also runs a waterfall head bath there.

Hair services cover cutting, colouring, bleaching, balayage, perms, Japanese straightening and keratin and smoothing treatments. Haircuts are shaped to each client's hair texture, face shape and lifestyle, and the salon aims for styles that are practical and easy to maintain at home. Shampoos and hair treatments are chosen for each client's hair and scalp.

Hayato Salons trains its own stylists. Each stylist trains for over two years at the New York and London salons before working in Tokyo, covering cutting, colour, perms, customer service and communication. The Hayato BeSide Salon and Academy in New York and Tokyo offers advanced courses for stylists with up to five years of experience and for beauty school graduates.

The salon aims for styles that suit each client and are practical to wear, with stylists trained to work across a wide range of hair types and face shapes.