Yasuhiro Yokote was born in Tokyo in 1953. At 16, he happened to pick up a fashion magazine and found himself fascinated the most by the page devoted to hairstyles. At that time, he had two career ambitions: to become either a graphic designer or a hairstylist. But he quickly realised that, as a graphic designer, he would spend most of his time at the computer, whereas as a hairstylist he would be working with people, and that made his decision easy. He began his training in the ER Road salon in Shibuya, in the heart of Tokyo. His desire to produce creative styles straightaway had to be put on hold for a while. For the entire first year, he learned how to shampoo “properly”. Only after he had reached the required standard in this discipline was he permitted to begin styling. “To be honest, I wanted to create new styles from the very beginning, but I was aware that the ‘practical’ skills had to be learnt first.” And in terms of creativity, he quickly became one of the best. In the 1990s, he was placed second in the “Japan Hair Dressing Awards”, on two different occasions. Today, Yasuhiro Yokote operates two salons in the centre of Tokyo, employing a total of 60 staff.