Beards and Japanese Culture
June 15, 2025
Episode Notes
Hey. Hello. Hello. Are you there?
Hey, good morning.
I thought he ah there you are. Good morning.
Hi.
Not too much over here. How about you?
Um, not much going on here. Usual Friday running around doing a lot of things. What's going on?
Hey, did you shave today?
No. Yeah. Did you?
You're growing a beard?
No. Yes, I did. I shave every day.
I I shave almost every day, but this is just what I look like most of the time.
Okay.
Well,
you're you're more bearded than I am.
Yeah, my dad my dad's uh would say I had blue beard.
Um
Okay. What does that mean?
Uh what I think we would call five o'clock shadow where you won't always have a little bit of it's not black but like sort of appears blue like a blue shadow on your cheek so you have blue beard um
y
I guess we call it five o'clock shadow because you shave in the morning and by 5:00 you can see a shadow.
Sure. If you have dark hair I have light hair.
What do you shave with or what's your method?
I've got an electric shaver. Um bronze I shave every morning. Very simple.
Yeah, I had I had a Panasonic somebody bought for me very kindly. A very powerful Panasonic, but my beard is way too thick and it just it doesn't do the job.
So, what do you use to shave? Do you have a razor?
I use a straight razor and a brush and foam. Not foam.
Do you use
Yeah.
Where did you buy Um, I should clarify that I I use multiple different things. I do have two straight razors which I've had for years and years and years and years. One which I got from a used shop or a used pile or like a yard sale or something and the other one uh that I bought. Um, but stropping them is a pain in the butt. Stropping is, you know, sharpening on leather.
That's right. I know.
Yeah. Um, but these These days, what I use is uh uh disposable single straight razors, which you can buy at any drugstore in Japan.
Okay. Yes.
Yes.
Yeah,
I might get that.
Yeah. See, my problem is that my beard is thick and it plugs up the like multi-blade razors get plugged up. And same thing with the electric razor, it just gets plugged up. So, I have to clean it out 20 times per shave, which is um not really useful. And it just um irritates my skin.
Yeah. Hey, how long have you been in Japan?
I've been in Japan since January 17th, 2007, which was Heyay 19.
Okay. I wanted to compare notes with you. I've been here about 10 years longer than you, give or take. Not not counting exactly. And uh when I go back to Canada, I feel like I've gone back to the Holy Land. Everybody's got beards in Canada now.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Um it's it is I mean Canada is a very multinational, multicultural country, so we have people of all all different shapes and sizes and uh it is much more of a feast for the eyes. Um
yes, but what I mean is uh when I came to Japan, not very many men had beards. Some, but not many. And when I go back to Canada, lots of people have beards. I feel like the exception.
Yeah, styles change, of course. Fashion changes and what's trendy changes. But the thing I find interesting um or kind of fun. You would say, I'm sure you would you would say since you've been in Japan, beards are not in mode are not on vogue. They're not the thing in Japan. Most people don't have beards. However, that has not always been the case.
My favorite thing on Wikipedia if you look at the list of all the prime ministers of Japan.
Yes.
And they shows their photos and if you go back about 120 years, there's a period of about 20 years where all the prime ministers had facial hair.
And I really I really like that you can see how trends
I I've noticed in Japan that in general more powerful people have beards
could be. Yeah. Sign of power. And I'm sure throughout history that's been there have been times where that's the case. Similar to being being large is a sign of power. Having a large gut is a sign of power.
Sure.
But I think that's changing now.
In what way? Uh some of my uh students are starting to grow beards. Uh, I've noticed that as well. Um, there's definitely been a change, but um, I gotta go.
You gotta go. Okay, I gotta go, too. Thanks a lot. See you later. Take care. Byebye.
Hey, good morning.
I thought he ah there you are. Good morning.
Hi.
Not too much over here. How about you?
Um, not much going on here. Usual Friday running around doing a lot of things. What's going on?
Hey, did you shave today?
No. Yeah. Did you?
You're growing a beard?
No. Yes, I did. I shave every day.
I I shave almost every day, but this is just what I look like most of the time.
Okay.
Well,
you're you're more bearded than I am.
Yeah, my dad my dad's uh would say I had blue beard.
Um
Okay. What does that mean?
Uh what I think we would call five o'clock shadow where you won't always have a little bit of it's not black but like sort of appears blue like a blue shadow on your cheek so you have blue beard um
y
I guess we call it five o'clock shadow because you shave in the morning and by 5:00 you can see a shadow.
Sure. If you have dark hair I have light hair.
What do you shave with or what's your method?
I've got an electric shaver. Um bronze I shave every morning. Very simple.
Yeah, I had I had a Panasonic somebody bought for me very kindly. A very powerful Panasonic, but my beard is way too thick and it just it doesn't do the job.
So, what do you use to shave? Do you have a razor?
I use a straight razor and a brush and foam. Not foam.
Do you use
Yeah.
Where did you buy Um, I should clarify that I I use multiple different things. I do have two straight razors which I've had for years and years and years and years. One which I got from a used shop or a used pile or like a yard sale or something and the other one uh that I bought. Um, but stropping them is a pain in the butt. Stropping is, you know, sharpening on leather.
That's right. I know.
Yeah. Um, but these These days, what I use is uh uh disposable single straight razors, which you can buy at any drugstore in Japan.
Okay. Yes.
Yes.
Yeah,
I might get that.
Yeah. See, my problem is that my beard is thick and it plugs up the like multi-blade razors get plugged up. And same thing with the electric razor, it just gets plugged up. So, I have to clean it out 20 times per shave, which is um not really useful. And it just um irritates my skin.
Yeah. Hey, how long have you been in Japan?
I've been in Japan since January 17th, 2007, which was Heyay 19.
Okay. I wanted to compare notes with you. I've been here about 10 years longer than you, give or take. Not not counting exactly. And uh when I go back to Canada, I feel like I've gone back to the Holy Land. Everybody's got beards in Canada now.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Um it's it is I mean Canada is a very multinational, multicultural country, so we have people of all all different shapes and sizes and uh it is much more of a feast for the eyes. Um
yes, but what I mean is uh when I came to Japan, not very many men had beards. Some, but not many. And when I go back to Canada, lots of people have beards. I feel like the exception.
Yeah, styles change, of course. Fashion changes and what's trendy changes. But the thing I find interesting um or kind of fun. You would say, I'm sure you would you would say since you've been in Japan, beards are not in mode are not on vogue. They're not the thing in Japan. Most people don't have beards. However, that has not always been the case.
My favorite thing on Wikipedia if you look at the list of all the prime ministers of Japan.
Yes.
And they shows their photos and if you go back about 120 years, there's a period of about 20 years where all the prime ministers had facial hair.
And I really I really like that you can see how trends
I I've noticed in Japan that in general more powerful people have beards
could be. Yeah. Sign of power. And I'm sure throughout history that's been there have been times where that's the case. Similar to being being large is a sign of power. Having a large gut is a sign of power.
Sure.
But I think that's changing now.
In what way? Uh some of my uh students are starting to grow beards. Uh, I've noticed that as well. Um, there's definitely been a change, but um, I gotta go.
You gotta go. Okay, I gotta go, too. Thanks a lot. See you later. Take care. Byebye.