Sachiko Nakasone, Japan's pioneer nail technician and principal of NSJ Nail Academy in Tokyo, first recalls seeing signs for nail salons in 1972 when she visited Long Beach, California, as a hair stylist with a Japanese advertising agency.
At the time, she wondered whether those salons were strangely named shops selling the sort of nails used in construction. Then, when she found out they were actually manicure salons, it wasn't long before she dropped by one to check it out. And immediately she was amazed to witness all the pink, red and gold polishes that even old ladies were having applied.
"I was so impressed by the gorgeous appearance of the American old ladies, with their colorful nails and their hair dyed purple or blue," 61-year-old Nakasone said, adding they were in stark contrast to older women in Japan back then, who tended to wear clothes in subdued colors and have their hair dyed black.