Hisae, a topknot-wearing taxi driver, gets ready

In an established ritual, after combing his hair neatly and fixing it tightly, a man pomades his hair from the right side of his head to the left via the back. Tatsuo Hisae, who is from Yawata, Yawata City and works at a taxi company based in Joyo City, Kyoto Prefecture, wears a Japanese topknot as a trademark, and follows the same procedure every day to get ready for work.

Although his French wife usually sets the Japanese topknot for him, Hisae is fixing his hair for the time being due to her visit to her home country with their child. He said, "I feel distracted if I don't do it in the same sequence. I have a different intensity toward getting into the spirit of work."

After completing his Japanese topknot in about 20 minutes, he meditates as the final touch. In order to drive away idle thoughts, he breathes deeply three times with his eyes closed and chants relaxing words for a few minutes. He says his emotional state is close to "zero" when he opens his eyes suddenly.

"I can switch modes from husband or father to worker precisely because it takes some time to attire myself."

Triggered by Worldwide travels

Hisae comes from Okubo-cho, Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. After graduating from high school, he tried various jobs, studied languages in London and so on. That led to him setting off on a journey around the world when he was 27 years old. After encountering catastrophic floods in Pakistan, he shaved the crown of his head and adopted the hairstyle of "Ochimusha," or the ghost of a defeated warrior who fled the enemy, in order to soften the hearts of people who were irritated at being unable to receive relief goods. That was the foundation for his current Japanese topknot hairstyle.

During his travels, he decided to marry a Frenchwoman whom he met in Spain. They started living in Japan together in 2013. When he was looking for a job, he thought he could become a taxi driver as it was very familiar to him from his travels.

He started his job as a taxi driver in April 2014. Passengers are generally said to be surprised, however his Japanese topknot creates the opportunity for lively conversation.