This post is for the ladies.

It took a little bit of persistence, but I finally found a place to get a Japanese style manicure in New York. The Japanese health spa/salon Shizuka is located in Midtown in Manhattan and is owned by a Japanese woman and run by a largely Japanese staff. It’s a beautiful facility that lives up to its name as being very restful. I contacted them to see if they had anyone on the premises who did “Japanese style nail art.”

A young gentleman named Lance, who turned out to be a happa from Hawaii, helped me make arrangements via email and phone. Yesterday I met Kumiko-san who showed up with her paints, brushes and a nice box full of mini-rhinestones. The results are below.

We had some fun talking about manicures, Japan and our favorite restaurants. She told me about an izakaya in Brooklyn I’d never heard of, and I told her about my favorite yakitori. We planned for summer manicures — light blue background and sea-shell designs.

All in all it was a great experience, and I look forward to going back. I hope that if you live in NYC and you are interested, you will consider this lovely salon. It isn’t exactly cheap, though compared to Japan the price is about right. The manicure itself is $15, and each nail costs an additional amount. Contact Shizuka to get their pricing.

If you are in another city and are investigating Japanese manicures, the key phrase to use is to ask if anyone does “Japanese nail art.” They’ll know what you mean if they have someone on staff who does this. And if anyone out there does find such a manicurist, I hope you’ll let me know!