Chinese tresses selling for hair-raising prices

Chinese tresses selling for hair-raising prices

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

TOKYO — Natural hair used for extensions is imported in great quantities from China, but a surge in the popularity of extensions has created a dearth in supply, causing a surge in the price of hair from China.

The root of the problem is the quick discarding of these extensions by their users — young women — after short periods of use, though it takes years for Chinese women to grow the hair.

Tetsuya Oura, a 29-year-old executive of a trading company in Osaka that imports such hair, recalled a scene he once saw in a village in rural China.

The village is nestled in a mountainous region. A small, beat-up truck trundled between poor households, blasting out warbling music. Suddenly a girl jumped in front of the truck, shouting, “Stop!” She wore no makeup and looked very young. On her head stood a great mass of black hair, arranged in a shape reminiscent of soft-serve ice cream. Her hair, when undone, almost reached the ground. The driver got out of the truck and began to cut the girl’s hair with scissors. When he was done, he gave the girl a small amount of money. She was left with a rather masculine-looking hairstyle.

These hair cutters visit villages in China and hand collected hair to brokers. The hair is processed and then exported to Japan.

According to Finance Ministry trade statistics, Japan imported 178 tons of dyed hair from China in 2007. In 2002, the figure was only 26 tons. With about 50 grams of hair needed for one extension, enough hair was imported in 2007 to make 3.56 million extensions.

This surge in hair imports follows a spike in the popularity of hair extensions among young women, which can give a short-haired woman the look of years of growth in hours.