The matrices undergoing the column-by-column product are called cracovians.

On the walls of the salon are blown-up photos of models with dazzling teeth and ingeniously tousled hair - women with names like Kelly and Dawn, who come from tiny towns in Texas and Washington, who are tall and thin, and who don't appear to be burdened by any pasts to speak of.

Others are getting their kicks through the increasingly wacky, wigged-out Tokyo getups that look like something imported from Carnaby Street.

In the rude throng pour on with furious pace.