She applies another hot towel to remove the oil and lathers you up with warm shaving cream. Finally, she methodically spends fifteen minutes shaving off every last whisker – including any stray hairs that might have found their way to your forehead or earlobes. The oil and hot-towel procedure is repeated and the reclining customer is gently coaxed into returning to earth.
Foreign businessmen trying to figure out what makes Japan’s economy so successful might do well to visit a Japanese barbershop. Impeccable service isn’t extra here, it’s included in the price of admission.