Arty

Really need some work with their customer service. Recently got my hair cut somewhere else and it looks more amazing than it ever has before. Never realized how average the cuts were until I left. They still do a generally good cut though, not going to lie.

My hair was done by Misuzu. She listens to what you want carefully and gives useful options. Will come back next time!

Posting for my fiancé Grace, we are lucky to find Mako she is very good, Grace got the digital perm and haircut and it looks really really cute and we highly recommend Mako she is really professional !!!

Romi did such an awesome job! Seriously the best color I’ve ever had. A true perfectionist, she looked through photos with me for almost half an hour and asked me a million questions. Then she re-​mixed the colors 3 times before settling on the right ones.

I’d pretty much given up hope of ever enjoying a haircut or the results. So I’ve been snipping away at home until one day I spotted someone on the street with the haircut I wished I had and they directed me to Hiro at Arty. Best haircut ever. And a great experience, too. I’m looking forward to going back and am so happy I’ve finally found haircut heaven!

I usually come here to get hair cut or color. Sometimes I will just walk in and cut my band. Today Romi cut my band and I ask her to curl my whole hair. She said it is $ 30, but I have never been charged for that before. So I tell her I got my band cut here before and they will curl my hair for free. Then it is where it went wrong, Romi just want to rush to curl my hair to a point I feel she pull my hair and I feel it hurt so much, and she didn’t curl my hair right. then I tell her I’m ok to pay for it. I usually don’t care about this, if she curl my hair and didn’t charge, I will tip her the money instead. I just impress by how $ 30 could change how she treats me. After I tell her I will pay the money, she slows down and take care of my hair. Well, never again.

Kyoko is great! I booked an appointment for digital perm right before my trip to Europe, and she didn’t dissapoint me. I have never been to this salon before but after seeing all the photos and comments I decided to take the chance and I’m sooooooo glad I did!
She did my hair exactly as the photo I showed to her and also gave some advice on how to take care of the style afterwards and is very easy going and has her own creative ideas and she is a beatiful girl

I’ve been here for haircut about 4 years and I always leave with smiles. My hair stylist is Hana san. She has a great taste of every hair styles and she will always find the best one for the customer like me. She also have some suggestions for me to keep a healthier hair. Good good good.

I had a horrible haircut at some other place in Chinatown where the guy basically took a razor to my hair and thinned it out so much I probably lost like 3 lbs. Looking for a way to remedy the situation, I found this awesome hair salon. Everyone in there is super friendly, it’s really clean, and it’s clear from the moment you step in they really know what they’re doing (especially when it comes to Asian hair).
I had Marie and told her I was thinking of getting a digital perm to try to get at least the illusion of volume back. She not only gave me honest advice on my situation, but did an amazing job on the perm itself. I really wanted just body waves (not super tight curls) and they came out exactly like that.
She was also super friendly and considerate in all the little ways that most people don’t notice (if she saw I was almost done with my magazine she’d get me a new one, if she saw I was almost out of tea she would ask if I needed more). Oh yeah, and that’s another huge perk– they have really delicious tea and drinks while you’re getting your hair done. :D
I also really appreciated that she took the time to double check exactly what I wanted– she showed me various pictures in a book to make sure the curls were exactly as loose/​big as I wanted. I’ve gotten bad perms before where it came out way too curly, so that was a huge relief.
All in all, I’d HIGHLY recommend this place. Will definitely never go anywhere else for a hair cut again.

I had a very nice haircut with Hiro. She started with some questions to make sure she understood what style I was looking for. The shampoo was nice and relaxing. I’m not really into lots of conversation at a salon so I was happy to page through a few of their many magazines while Hiro was working on my hair. She did a great job and matched the length, style, and shape that we had discussed. She also gave a little shoulder massage at the end which was a nice bonus.
The staff at Arty is always friendly and courteous, and the salon is bright and clean. They never push you to buy any products (although I should’ve asked about their heat protectant spray, it smelled amazing). Metered parking is available on the street but if you venture up Laguna a few blocks, there is free 2 hour parking!

This is my go to place for my haircut and I highly commended Marie. She is nice, friendly and takes care of my hair every time. I have been going here for a year now and I never went to other places.
All their staff are very nice and they deserve a 5 star rating from me.

Arty is the only place i would trust on digital perm in the Bay area. I am super conservative when it comes to my perm. All hair stylists at Arty (that i know of) are from Japan, and are well trained to deal with Asian hair. They took the time to ask me what I want, showed me samples from the magazines, and gave professional suggestions on what would look nice given my face shape, and how much time i want to spend every morning on my hair (the last part helped me rule out a bob cut which i was very tempted to try). I had my digital perm twice here and i was happy with both experiences — the perm was just curvy enough to last about 6 months, but not too curvy to make me look like a 50-​year-​old (which i did after digi-​perm from another Korean salon in south bay). Everyone is super polite, and they offered me tea of different options. Would definitely come back again.

I highly recommend scheduling an appointment with Romi at Arty. Hands down the best hair cut and color I’ve ever had! We spent the first 10 – 15 mins discussing the look I wanted to achieve, which ended up being a shorter hairstyle with an Ombré. I had a difficult time choosing my hair color but Romi was patient and offered many suggestions. My appointment was 4 hours in total – just goes to show how detail oriented Romi is. She truly cares about her craft!

Arty is a Japanese hair salon in Japan Town where you get pretty darn close to the experience of being in a Japanese salon in Japan. The staff is really friendly (Hiro, my stylist is amazing and really sweet) and they do a great job cutting and coloring hair. I also feel that their prices are fair, especially for their great customer service! They offer you a beverage when you sit down, lots of magazines to read and the even give you a really decent massage for your troubles.
The salon itself is minimal and functional over being hip or having a lot of flair, but if you want a great haircut and color come here!

Unfortunately I didn’t qualify to get a digital perm because my hair was too light and dry. I didn’t have highlights in my hair, just color, but I guess I need to grow it out and have leave-​in conditioner to rehydrate my hair.
I opted for a regular haircut since I traveled all the way to SF Japantown for this. The haircut was nice and soothing because I received a massage during and after the shampoo and also after my hair cut.
Mako did a great job with the cut and made sure I liked every bit of it. I only wished I was able to get a digital perm. The hair cut was $ 60 and the prices are going to increase in January to $ 70.
Cost of digital perm is from $ 180 – 220 depending on the length of your hair. The digital perm also includes hair cut. Touch up for color is $ 120 which includes the hair cut.
My friend recommended me to this place and said you get free drinks. I wasn’t offered any drinks, so not sure what happened to that drink menu.
Overall, I was in there for a hair cut for an hour and 15 min or so. The location is right across from Japantown Center.

I’m sad. I’m sad because I want to support a Japanese-​owned business, but I was and still am incredibly disappointed with my hair. I went to arty a month ago. I usually get my haircut when I’m back home in Tokyo, but I desperately needed a haircut so I went there based on all the raving Unilocal reviews.
I was unhappy the moment the stylist (Makiko was it?) finished my hair. It was just blah. There was no shape, no texture to my hair. They curled my hair after, which created an illusion of transformed hair, but after I took a shower the next day it was still blah. I’ve been thinking about writing this review ever since. I guess it serves me right… I did not request a specific hair stylist and Makiko lacked the experience. I should’ve asked for a different stylist. I just assumed everyone would be experienced. Not the case.
Do your homework before booking your appointment. Don’t take a chance on any stylist that is available, you’ll regret it.

I am so in love with this salon it’s not even funny! Lenka is my girl and she always saves my hair from me! THANKS LENKA IF YOU’RE READING THIS!!! I can’t go to any other salon now because once you find a great hair dresser, you should stick to them like glue.
I am truly terrible at the upkeep involved with taking care of my hair. I never get haircuts until I really have to, and every now and then I do a box dye (shock horror). I also in the past have had some really horrible experiences at hair salons, both low end and high end. People never seem to really listen to what I try and tell them I want, or they just don’t understand. I’ve only ever had the best experiences at hair salons in Japan! They treat you so well, they know exactly what it is you’re going for (despite the language barrier), and the quality of their service is unlike any other. Which is why I sought out Arty hair salon, because I just knew it would be worth the investment and I wouldn’t regret it.
I first came to Arty probably about 2 years ago for a digi-​perm. It was all the rage in Korea and Japan at the moment but not many salons were using the technology in the US. Thankfully, Arty salon is cutting edge and they totally knew all about it. I honestly cannot remember the first stylist I saw at Arty. She was great and was very patient with me. She did my first digi-​perm a bit too tightly wound for my taste and it took a few months for the curls to loosen and look a bit more natural but once they were loose i was SERIOUSLY in love with the look it gave. I was hooked!
The second and forever onward times I go to Arty, I see Lenka! She’s so awesome and always looks at my reference photos very carefully, making sure she totally understands what kind of look I’m going for. She’s also incredibly easy to talk to and super funny. She just really makes me feel comfortable and she spends however long it will take to make sure the style I want is fully achieved. She’s done my second digi-​perm which was PERFECTION, loose and natural and amazing, she’s also done most recently a full color and pretty much chopped off my length for me. I felt so terrible when we did our color session, because I think I was her last appointment and it took so long to lift the color from my natural hair (I was going for an hombre, very bleach blonde at the tips) but she was great and made sure it looked good before I left.
The scalp massage when they wash your hair is worth coming to this salon in itself. I literally wanna take the girl who does the scalp massage home with me because she’s so good at it!!! They also offer you tea while you are getting serviced and they style your hair completely after your cut/​color.
Amazing salon, very much worth the prices they charge and OMG THAT SCALP MASSAGE.

A bit hard to find at first, I didn’t bother to look up to the second floor until I went down the block and didn’t see any salon. Tricky, but that’s how it is in Japan as well, hard to find niche.
The white reflective bright place is lovely, feels clean, professional. The staff on the phone was slightly annoyed when I tried making the appointment because I was coming from a traffic ridden area, so wasn’t too sure if I could make it on time. Nonetheless I called right before the appt time because I was 30 min late and they were very accommodating (not sure if it’s a different staff answering phone), they reassured me I was good.
The service from beginning to end was awesome. The massage while washing my hair feels great. While cutting the hair dresser made sure if she did this this would happen, etc making me aware and allowing me to have the choice to do which ever.
Kyoko is who I had and I don’t mind going back to her again! Thanks so much :)

Yes, I am a Japan Center Beauty Clinic patron. But… Michiaki is so hard to book now!!!
I figured that I always wanted to try this place anyways, and my hair was begging for a cut, especially since I thought that bleaching my black hair to blonde on my own was a doable thing… forgetting that my ends were previously bleached six times, and of course it let me know it.
I needed to get an appointment WITHIN THE WEEK.
I scheduled my cut and color for 5PM. The day after, I decided that I wanted 4PM instead and informed them. Hooray for flexibility! I got Marie, who speaks fluent English (sorry my Japanese is extremely weak), and she’s super stylish and really nice and honest about what she could achieve with my hair and transformed my long hair into a really rocking light brown asymmetrical layered bob.
The store itself is really cute, bright, and clean. I feel like it’s really inviting, stylish, and «open». I can kind of tell that it has been there for a while, but it’s not really a bad thing. It seems like the owners made an effort to keep things updated and they did a great job on the décor.
I don’t regret it at all. I love how my new hair looks with my face and the compliments are overflowing. If you can’t get your slot at JCBC, give this place a shot.
I feel so oshare~

I live in TX. Believe it or not, I only cut my hair when I visit SF and Beijing.
Yes, I am Asian. And yes, I have special hair! I find the average American hair stylists have no clue how to cut Asian people’s hair. I got a haircut once at an American hair salon for a basic haircut that cost $ 80 plus tips. It was absolutely the most horrifying haircut I had ever gotten. I thought to myself «NEVER AGAIN»!
I like Japanese hair stylists b/​c they are known for being on top of international fashion trends and haircut techniques. When I first visited SF Japantown, I decided to get a long overdue haircut over here. I forgot to make an appointment before my trip, so I had to just try my luck. I called Japan Center Beauty Clinic first but they didn’t have any openings. I then called Arty and was told I could come in the next day!
I came in the following morning with my dad. The hair salon isn’t very big. The stylists don’t speak much English but they do wonders to your hair. My stylist was very sweet and professional. We had a great conversation while she was working on my hair. My layered haircut came out amazing, even my dad thought it was very nice. She also recommended an authentic sushi place in Japantown. My dad and I went later for lunch, it was outstanding!
In sum, the haircut I got at Arty is definitely THE best I’ve gotten in the States so far! Their staff are trained in Tokyo and they even have another studio in Tokyo. Give Arty a try, you will get the best Asian trendy hair styles without paying a plane ticket to Tokyo!