Japan is home to 20,000 Japanese people with ethnic African roots. You would think that with 500,000 hairdressers in Japan, they could have the choice to select the best hairdresser for them. But there is an injustice hiding in these numbers. Because for African Japanese people it’s almost impossible to find a hairdresser who knows how to take care of their African-textured hair. This happens for a simple reason: Japanese immigration policies make it even more difficult for a foreign hairdresser to get a visa to work in Japan. On average, it takes around 2 years to become a licensed hairdresser in Japan, including exams that take place strictly in Japanese.

So how could Sheah Moisture, a brand deeply rooted in Africa and who cares for Afro-textured hair, bring some relief to this cohort?

Shea Moisture presents the Visa Loop.

Shea Moisture is a brand that has cared for Afro-textured hair since 1912, with roots originally coming from West Africa. We decided to find a way around these complicated immigration policies, finding a loophole to bring in specialised hairdressers that can take care of the hair of this Japanese minority. We flew them in using the Artist Visa.

Why the artist Visa? Because Black hair is Art.

We brought in hairdressers by fulfilling the lighter requirements of the Artist Visa: No Japanese exam, Art to sell, A sponsor and A place to exhibit your art.

Our target audience is a small minority in Japan. About 20 000 Japanese are of ethnic African origin. Their hair has very specific needs, needs that cannot be met by traditional Japanese hairdressers. And because of immigration laws, this has been a consistant issue for them. They sometimes plan holidays abroad in order to find a hairdresser.

That is why Shea Moisture decided to address this issue by creating the Visa Loop.

In order to circumvent the issue of a 2 year long hairdresser visa with an exam in Japanese, we applied for an another visa, with less stringent obligations: the Artist Visa.

After all, Taking care of Afro-textured hair is art. The artist visa required a sponsor - so Shea Moisture sponsored them - a place to exhibit and Art to sell. We rented Wabi Gallery in the heart of Tokyo and had our hairdressers perform for 2 months.

We flew in 20 hairdressers over a period of 3 months for them to “perform” and reinforce that black hair is art. Around 200 persons could benefit from treatments and care they are usually denied from in Japan.