An unusual barbershop. What is Takadanobaba’s “isel”, which takes on challenges such as introducing subscription.

The main concept is to use more than just a regular barber shop

Celeina (MC): First of all, let me introduce Mr. Mori’s profile. Born in Hokkaido. After graduating from a barber and beauty school, he worked at a barber shop in Waseda for 14 years. After working freelance, he opened his own barber shop, isel, in Takadanobaba.

Takano (MC): We have a message from a person whose radio name is Makirante. He says, “The person on today’s “FIST BUMP” may possibly be from a place I’ve always wondered about: ……. The sign is a small brown piece of wood with silky writing on it, but I couldn’t tell what it said because it was so stylish. But the name of the restaurant sounds just like the letters on the sign, so I’m waiting for the broadcast with a sense of excitement. Is it written smoothly on a wooden signboard?

Mori: Yes, it is. I think it’s probably our house, so please stop by.

Takano: You say it’s a place you are interested in. Thank you for your message.

Celeina: Now, about isel, which is run by Mr. Mori, what made you decide to become a barber?

Mori: I started cutting my own hair when I was in junior high school. When I became a high school student, I started cutting my friends’ hair, and that was the beginning.

Celeina: Did you get your hair cut at school?

Mori: I used to invite them over to my house and cut their hair.

Celeina:And now you have opened isel in Takadanobaba.

Mori: Normally, barbershops are just for getting a haircut, but I had the main concept of making it more than just a regular barber shop by planning events and introducing a subscription menu.

Takano: What kind of events do you do?

Mori: We have invited a coffee shop to hold an event, or we invite a sushi restaurant, or we invite everyone to watch a movie while drinking wine.

Celeina: Very stylish.

Takano: Can anyone participate?

Mori: Of course. Some events have a limited number of people, while others allow anyone to come. There are often people I know who would like to go, but have already decided where they want to get their hair cut. I think it’s a shame that these people can’t come to us.

If there are many people who come to our store, even if it is just to show up at an event or in that way, they can connect with my customers and acquaintances there, which will expand the circle of people and make everyone’s days more enjoyable.

Celeina: With isel as a base, a community is being formed.

Mori: I think it would be great if it were to become a community.

Takano: Also, the barber shop is like software. It’s interesting that you can change things around.

Mori: That’s why when we built the store from the beginning, we made it possible to move all the chairs and counters around and make it look any way you want.

Takano: For example, you could invite a DJ and VJ to cut hair while playing a video.

Mori: Not at all, we can do anything.

Takano: How about that kind of project? But we can do all kinds of collaborations like that.

Mori: We can also do galleries. For an artist who works hard and rents a gallery, it costs a lot of money, but I can do it in a barber shop. But I make my living as a barber and pay rent, so I think it would be great if we could support artists to make our gallery their first step as a place to showcase their works.

Takano: For artists and creators, it is really nice to have such a place.

Introducing a barbershop one-month unlimited subscriptions

Celeina：I have heard about isel so far, but what I am wondering is that you only have one seat. Is there any particularity here?

Mori: In large beauty salons, priority is given to turnover, but I believe that this leads to a decline in customer satisfaction. I don’t want to lower that satisfaction level too much, so I work alone and keep my business hours a little longer, which I think is better for the customer’s comfort.

Celeina：That’s good. So quality is better than quantity.

Mori: Yes, that’s right.

Celeina：Although it is a barber shop, do you have female customers as well?

Mori: Yes, we do.

Takano: I’m curious about the subscription. What kind of menu do you have?

Mori: We offer a one-month unlimited subscription. For example, you can go just for a shampoo, or just for a shave, and of course you can have your hair colored.

Takano: Or just to get your eyebrows done?

Mori: Yes, I can.

Takano: That sounds great.

Celeina: Is there a limit to the number of times I can go?

Mori: For the time being, no. I might make some more when I’m fully booked, but for now I’m totally fine with it.

Takano: It would be very nice to be able to shampoo only.

Celeina: Especially for women with long hair like me, shampooing alone takes up a lot of time in a day. If I can ask for such a service, I can do some work or relax during that time, right?

Mori: That’s right. Having such a place makes my daily life a little richer. Also, women, in particular, tend to choose a haircut that is about 1 cm shorter than they would like, so that they can cut it off in a month’s time.

Celeina: You compromise on the hairstyle, don’t you?

Mori: But if I can cut just the bangs one more time in a week or two, I can always have my hair the length I want.

Celeina: That’s a great way to scratch an itch.

Takano: I also have a problem with my fringe growing too fast. So when I want to cut just my fringe, it’s nice to be able to solve the problem with a subscription. They also offer hand-drip coffee after the cut.

People connect with each other through the barber shop.

Mori: I also like coffee. There is a large table, and after the cut is finished, people go there to chat for a while before leaving. After chatting with the customer in front of me for about 30 minutes, the next customer with a reservation would arrive.

For example, if a person who is looking for a restaurant in this area comes in next to a person who works at a restaurant, if they can make a connection with the person they were just talking to, they will say, “I’ll go there next time.

Celeina: Wow, it’s not just hair.

Takano: It’s interesting that it functions like a snack bar. It’s like they come to enjoy their time.

Mori: That’s right. I thought it would be interesting to use it in that way.

Celeina: isel, you should check it out. Now, I’d like to send you a song, and I asked Mori-san to choose a song that everyone would like to listen to at this time. Could you tell us why you chose this song?

Mori: When I was around 18 or 19 years old, a friend of mine told me about this song, and I thought the artist Nujabes was really cool. I always said that one day when I built a store, I would play Nujabes as the background music for the store.

Takano: Isn’t it great?

Celeina: I’m already getting the vibe. Now please introduce the songs.

Mori: “Luv (sic) Part 4 featuring Shing02” by Nujabes, please.

https://youtu.be/zq-lIBwhWLk?feature=shared

Improving my place as isel while also pursuing what I want to do

Celeina: We have just heard a lot about isel, but now that it has been one year since the store opened, is there anything you want to do in the future?

Mori: Personally, the interior of the store has a slightly different atmosphere from other stores, and some people say they like that atmosphere, so I would like to work on designing the interior of the store in the future. I would like to do something like decorating, combining the works of artists I am surrounded by and old tools and other decorations. I would also like to open a coffee shop during the free daytime hours of a nearby snack bar, and selling artists’ works overseas is also a dream of mine.

Takano: You are very versatile, Mr. Mori.

Celeina: I can really see the future in all of the things you just mentioned. I think you may not have enough time and energy to do it all on your own.

Takano:But you have gathered a lot of wonderful people at your store and made connections with them, right?

Mori: That’s right. People who are involved in some kind of activity who gather at the store are connecting with each other to create artworks or hold events together, and they are increasingly asking us to lend our space to them for those occasions.

Celeina: I am really looking forward to the future.

Mori: I hope it turns out to be a good place.

Celeina: But aren’t you a bit busy being a barber by yourself?

Mori: Not at all, I still do my best to make reservations.

Celeina: So you say you have a slot for reservations. I would like to encourage everyone to check out isel on Instagram or Hot Pepper Beauty and visit. “FIST BUMP” welcomes today Genki Mori, owner of isel, a barbershop in Takadanobaba, Tokyo. Thank you very much.