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.
父は理容院に行った。
My father went to the barbershop.
近所の理容院は安くて早い。
The neighborhood barbershop is cheap and quick.
理容院でひげを剃ってもらった。
I had my beard shaved at the barbershop.
祖父は毎月同じ理容院で髪を切ってもらっている。
My grandfather gets his hair cut at the same barbershop every month.
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.