Punch perm

A punch perm (パンチパーマ, panchi pāma) is a type of tightly permed male hairstyle in Japan. From the 1970s until the mid-1990s, it was popular among yakuza, chinpira (low-level criminals), bōsōzoku (motorcycle gang members), truck drivers, construction workers, and enka singers. The punch perm began to fall out of usage as a result of its general association with the yakuza, as well as normal fashion trends. The style is similar to the "Jheri Curl" hairstyles popular in the USA during roughly the same time frame, but the curls in a punch perm are much tighter and afrocentric appearing.

History

This hair style was invented taking a hint from black people's hair by Japanese barber Shigemi Naganuma of Hair-salon Naganuma in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyūshū in 1960s.^[1] Naganuma named it "champion press". However, it came to be called "punch perm" all too soon (because of its punchy and powerful appearance, according to one theory).^[2] He became an apprentice barber at age of 19 and became independent at age of 26. At that time, the hair iron stick for the perm was round shaped and could not hold the hair tightly. Then, young Naganuma, after closing his shop, filed the hair iron into a hexagonal shape, like a pencil, for a tighter hold.^[1]

Variations

A variation of the punch perm that is worn primarily by bōsōzoku is called "aippa": both sides of the forehead are shaved to create a cross between widow's peak, an afro, and an exaggerated sculpted early 1960s pompadour.

Another variant is the "iron perm". While a punch perm is created with rollers and chemicals, an iron perm is created with a heated curling iron. This hair style often involves singeing the hair.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld chapter 12, David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro, University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21562-7.