Japanese hairdresser visits college for salon experience

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A Japanese hairdressing student spent a day at The Manchester College learning about the UK hairdressing industry after winning a high profile competition organised by Habia Japan.

After pitting her cutting and colouring skills against 500 other Japanese students in a national contest Naho Kawano won an all expenses paid trip to the UK to take part in the Habia Japan Five Day Scholarship Programme.

Accompanied by Justin Tellus, international educator for Habia Japan,
Naho, 22, spent a whole day working alongside a group of adult students at the college’s hairdressing salon at the Northenden Campus.

Naho said: “It’s been an eye-opening experience working here at The Manchester College. In Japan, you’re not allowed to practice or be assessed on people until you’ve passed your course, which means contact with clients is out of the question. It’s been a real confidence boost for me to experience working in a realistic salon environment.”

During her week-long stay in the UK Naho spent time with a variety of training providers and salons in Yorkshire, but the highlight of her week was working with college tutor Mark Izzard. Mark is an experienced hairdresser and a member of the Habia UK Hairdressing Skills Team and L’Oreal I.D Artist Team and has an international reputation.

Mark said: “Having Naho here has been a real privilege. She’s a fast learner and it’s a credit to her that she was able to learn enough English before her arrival to enable her to communicate effectively in the salon.

“She has given our students an insight into the cultural differences in the training procedures of the two countries which has helped them understand the industry from a more international perspective. We intend to develop our partnership with Habia Japan further so that more of our students may benefit from similar valuable learning opportunities in the future.”