Japanese Hotels Offer Discounts for Balding Men

Finding out that they are going bald is rarely a cause for men to celebrate, as hair loss is usually taken as a sign that they are getting older and that they perhaps don’t look as good as they once did. But one hotel chain in Japan is aiming to put a smile on balding men’s faces by offering a discount when they stay.

Staff at Tokyo’s Kitakyushu Hotel Plaza, as well as other hotels in the Tetora Group, will do a quick visual scan of a guest as he checks in and knock 500 yen off his bill if he appears to be follicly challenged. Unfortunately, this equates to about £3.50.

According to Japan Today, guests’ reactions have been mixed. Comments left by customers include:
“Cool, I don’t have any hair.”
“I like discounts, but I don’t know if my pride is worth 500 yen.”
“I think that’s kind of rude. What if they gave discounts to women they felt were fat and ugly?”

Tongue in cheek

For its part, the hotel seems to have embraced the policy with something of a tongue in cheek attitude, and even has a bald mascot in the lobby which is based on the chain’s president Koji Miura, himself in the advanced stages of Male Pattern Baldness.

But there is also a certain logic to the discount: it was introduced in response to cleaning staff’s complaints that there was too much hair in drains and plug-holes. Bald men, it can confidently be said, don’t mess up shower trays as much as other people.

The hotel policy is certainly an odd one, and arguably one that men with thinning hair may find rather uncomfortable. When men first start to lose hair to Male Pattern Baldness, which is a genetic condition, it can feel as if their world has been turned upside down. Being offered a measly £3.50 discount after hotel staff have deemed your hair loss sufficiently advanced, and pointed it out, would hardly soften the blow.

Sensitive issue

Losing their hair is a sensitive issue for many men and how they choose to deal with this is an incredibly personal decision. Whilst some may prefer to let nature take its course, other men decide to shave their head or get a short haircut that will help to disguise their thinning. Others, however, opt for the route of using clinically-proven hair loss treatments to prevent further shedding and help regrow their hair.

This approach has proven effective because at its heart are two MHRA licensed and FDA approved medications. Whilst the one-a-day oral finasteride 1mg tablet tackles the underlying cause of Male Pattern Baldness - an enzyme called DHT which leads to folliclullar shrinkage and hair thinning - topical formulations of high strength minoxidil are used to promote hair growth.

These can be used individually or together and in either case may be further supplemented with hair growth supporting products.

Whilst many men taking this proven approach find their confidence has improved in line with their hair, taking this route may mean having to pay full price at Tokyo’s Kitakyushu Hotel Plaza.