1.
barbershop; barber's (typically for men)
A shop offering haircuts, shaves, and related grooming services, traditionally aimed at male customers. Distinguished from 美容院 (beauty salon), which traditionally serves women.
理容院 traditionally refers to a barbershop for men, in contrast to 美容院 (beauty salon) for women. In modern Japan, the legal distinction is more about the services offered (shaving with a razor is restricted to licensed 理容師) than the customer's gender, but the cultural association remains strong.
Similar words
- 美容院: beauty salon — historically for women, focuses on cutting, perming, and styling; cannot legally perform straight-razor shaving
- 床屋: more colloquial term for a barbershop, very common in everyday speech
- ヘアサロン: hair salon — modern, gender-neutral term used by many newer establishments
- バーバー: barber (loanword), used in some shop names
Common collocations
- 理容院に行く: to go to the barbershop
- 理容院で髪を切る: to get a haircut at the barbershop
- 理容院で髭を剃ってもらう: to get a shave at the barbershop
Cultural note
A traditional 理容院 typically displays a red, white, and blue spiral pole (サインポール) outside. The full barbershop service often includes a haircut, shampoo, and a hot-towel shave.