Speaking Japanese

How to say the haircut is going wrong, in Japanese

If you are in the chair right now

すみません、思っていたより短いので、もう少し長めにしてもらえますか。

Sorry, it's shorter than I expected. Could you leave it a bit longer?

If that gets brushed off

これ以上は短くしないでください。

Please don't take any more off.

Say it halfway through, while there is still hair to work with. Japanese requests work forwards: ask for what you want from here rather than describe what has gone wrong, and it stays a request instead of a verdict on someone's work in progress. 〜もらえますか is the everyday polite ask; 〜いただけますか is a notch more formal and never wrong in a salon.

There is no chapter for this. Phrasebooks teach you to ask for a trim, then leave you a third of the way through, when it is already too short and the person holding the scissors is happy with it. Most people say nothing, say 大丈夫です at the end, and go home.

If you need more than one line

softest

すみません、ちょっといいですか。

Sorry, do you have a second? Buys you a beat before the difficult part.

softest

イメージと少し違うんですが…

It's a little different from what I had in mind… Left unfinished on purpose; the trailing んですが is where the politeness lives.

neutral

横はもう少し長めでお願いできますか。

Could I ask for the sides a bit longer? Say it with your hand where you mean.

firmest

後ろはこのままにしてください。

Please leave the back as it is. Worth having ready if the softer lines are smiled past.

Two things worth knowing

You already know 短い. That is not the problem.

Ask forwards, not backwards

In English the complaint carries the request: say “it's too short” and the hairdresser works out what you want. Japanese runs the other way round. 短すぎます is grammatical, and it lands as a verdict on work that is still in progress. Name what you want from here instead, もう少し長めにしてもらえますか, and the problem is understood without anyone having to be wrong about it.

The sentence that does not finish

〜んですが and 〜けど, left hanging at the end of a sentence, are the softest way in Japanese to raise anything awkward. 「イメージと少し違うんですが…」 signals that a request is coming and leaves room for the other person to offer it themselves. Finishing every sentence cleanly is a good part of what makes otherwise fluent Japanese sound blunt.

What Aiko actually said

What you have to get done

Gently explain that's not what you meant
Share what you were thinking instead
Decide together what to do next

Aiko

どうですか？

How does it look?

You

実は、思っていたよりも短くなってしまって、もう少し長めにしてもらえますか？

Actually, it's come out shorter than I expected. Could you leave it a bit longer?

Aiko

ごめんなさい、思っていたよりも短くなってしまったんですね。どれくらいの長さが良かったですか？

I'm sorry, so it's come out shorter than you expected. What length were you hoping for?

You

ええと、もし可能なら、もう少し長めに切ってもらえるとうれしいです。肩くらいまでの長さが理想ですね。

Well, if it's possible, I'd be glad if you could keep it longer. About shoulder length would be ideal.

Aiko

わかりました。肩くらいまでの長さにしましょうね。お任せください！

Understood. Let's go for shoulder length. Leave it to me!

You

ありがとうございます！でも、今ちょっと気になることがあって、実は肩までの長さにしたいって言ったのですが、これが思っていた以上に短くなってきている気がします。これからどうしましょうか？

Thank you! But something is bothering me. I said I wanted it to the shoulder, and I feel like it's getting shorter than that. What should we do from here?

Aiko

そうですか、心配させてしまってごめんなさい。もう少し調整して、理想の長さに近づけますね。仕上げますので、少々お待ちください！

I see. I'm sorry to have worried you. I'll adjust it and get it closer to the length you wanted. Let me finish up, one moment please!

Now say it yourself

Reading that is not the same as producing it with someone waiting, which is the entire difficulty. You can have this exact conversation in the app: Aiko is a third of the way through, and you have three things to get done.

It is free, it takes about a minute to start, and the first attempt is allowed to be terrible.

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