Otokomae” is the origin of our media name. Since the launch of OTOKOMAE, we have been providing information on how to become a manly man from various angles. The purpose of this project is to interview hot men and find out the essence of what it takes to become more manly, especially in terms of appearance, and to provide information that will help our readers improve their manliness.
Ken Tsukahara, aka Ken Navy, influencer and apparel manager, makes an appearance!
Ken Tsukahara, a.k.a. “Ken Navy,” has become well-known with the rise of Instagram. He is a young businessman who launched the men’s casual wear brand ” EURO KENVY ” on the back of his style that suits his simple clothes, his masculine yet refreshing looks, and his follower-oriented Instagram management. Based in Osaka, he is ambitiously developing multiple businesses, including custom-made suits and space design, in addition to his apparel brand. His simple styling proposals continue to attract strong support from a wide range of men. As of October 2023, he has about 110,000 followers on Instagram. Instagram account is here:
At first glance, he looks intimidating and difficult to get to know, especially in his sunglasses. When I actually met and talked with him, I found him to be a friendly, unpretentious, and kind-hearted nice guy.
The essence of a manly man (1) “Practicing rag sport coordination himself that anyone can easily reproduce.
Mr. Tsukahara is in pursuit of “a style that looks simple and ordinary at first glance, but is somehow good-looking,” and reflects this in the way he dresses himself. We asked him to explain how he arrived at this style and the specific points of coordination.
Seven years before I started my brand, I encountered a good-looking guy in a convenience store in Kyoto wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and sandals, which was the original experience for me. At the time, I was very conscious of trying to create a fashionable style by trying to be eccentric in terms of colors and materials, such as colorful gradient knitwear and pile fabric jackets, but when I saw his style, my standard of what was fashionable was overturned. But seeing his style overturned my own standards of what was fashionable. Simple is good, and simple is good.
—Your style has changed dramatically since then. What exactly is your style now?
The three things that are important to me are, without a doubt, “simple ragspots,” “materials that can be effortlessly luxurious,” and “color matching.”
—Please tell us about the first point, “simple ragspot”.
Ragspo is what we call luxury sports. While sporty items such as sneakers, T-shirts, and hoodies are used, dress items such as jackets and slacks, luxury watches, and leather items are used to give the overall look a luxurious taste, and the coordination is simple and uncluttered. I try to coordinate my outfits simply and without clutter.
—Please tell us about the second point, “materials that can easily create a sense of luxury”.
I think that no matter how good the material is, if you don’t take good care of it, it often doesn’t look like a good material. The texture of the material is ruined by wrinkles. However, men who do ironing are in the minority. For my brand, I choose materials that look luxurious when worn quickly, without the need to iron or take care of the garments. As a matter of course, most of the clothes in my apparel brand “EUROKENVY” are not made of 100% natural materials, but are often mixed with synthetic fibers to incorporate functionality. I choose mainly materials that don’t wrinkle in the first place or stretchy materials that are easy to wear, not only when you start wearing them, but even after wearing them for a long time.
—Please tell us about the third point, “color matching.
Basically, I don’t use any flashy colors, but rather a gradation of colors (black, gray, white, etc.) with a sense of unity as a whole. And, to go into even more detail, I personally don’t think it’s cool if the frames of the sunglasses are gold, but the zip of the leather jacket you are wearing is silver, because I don’t feel a sense of unity. I am sure that many people are aware of the importance of limiting the number of colors in their clothes, but I believe that if you are aware of accessories and details of your clothes, it will lead to an even more sophisticated dressing style. By the way, speaking of accessories, I own about 30 pairs of sunglasses.
—I see that you have a lot of sunglasses.
I wear sunglasses that have thick frames and dark lenses to make them less noticeable when my face is swollen and my eyes are small, such as the day after drinking too much alcohol.
—I’d like to know how to choose sunglasses that look good on me.
The key to finding the right design is to match the shape of the top rim of the sunglasses to the shape of your eyebrows. For example, in my case, I have parallel eyebrows, so I mainly choose designs with straight and parallel top rims, which are often square-shaped. My recommendation is to choose sunglasses based on the shape of your eyebrows.
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A high-impact croc bag adds character.
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The material of the watch belt and case should also be linked to the bag and accessories.
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Sneakers on the feet add a lightness, and the daring Converse adds a haziness to the look.
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Eyewear and watches should always be linked in coloring.
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Elements of manliness (2) “Short hair that is popular for both work and play, created with a hairdresser who shares your sense of style.
Mr. Tsukahara’s short black hair with a masculine and sporty look, and a slightly wet texture that gives him a mature and sexy look, suits him very well. He says he has given a lot of thought to his hairstyle before settling on his current style.
In my job as a manager of an apparel brand and custom suit store, I have a lot of opportunities to come in contact with male customers in their 20s to 40s, so the most important point is that I want my hair to be popular with men. I also want to be popular with women, of course. (laughs) I tell this to my hairstylist, whom I trust, and basically leave it completely up to him.
—Totally leave it up to you?
Yes, I have complete trust in
SHOYA-kun, a hair stylist based in Osaka. But until I met him, I had a series of failures. After coming to Osaka from Kyoto, I looked at hair salon coupon sites and articles on blogs I didn’t understand, such as “recommended salons in Osaka,” and visited 10 salons that looked good, but they didn’t fit me at all. The style itself was a bit old-fashioned, the height of the hair cut did not match my bone structure, and in the worst case, the hair dye was unevenly colored… I personally thought that recommendations and rankings on hair salon coupon websites are not to be relied upon.
—How do you find a great hairdresser?
I’m sure you have some friends or seniors around you who you think are good looking, so the best thing to do is to ask them who they have their hair cut by and ask that hairdresser. I think it is important not to randomly choose a salon because it is a big salon, because it is close to your house, or because you can use a coupon to get a lower price, etc.
—By the way, what do you think are the requirements for a good hairdresser?
In my mind, the three requirements for a good hairdresser are ” a strong hairdressing technique, ” a sense of style close to my own, ” and ” sensitivity to trends. Regarding hairdressing techniques, I have no doubt that people who participate in hair shows and competitions and win awards are good hairdressers, but I still feel that most hairdressers are from Tokyo, and many local hairdressers do not participate in competitions in the first place. So, I am sorry to say that it is honestly difficult to find a hairdresser outside of Tokyo from that perspective. From another point of view, I think it would be better to check the hairdresser’s clothes and hairstyle beforehand, preferably on Instagram, or if it is difficult, on the day of the event, to see if he/she has a good grasp of trends and what kind of clothes and hairstyle you like. Also, if the hairdresser has a similar image of what you think is cool, such as your favorite male celebrity, music, movies, cartoons, hobbies, etc., he or she will tend to be able to accurately grasp your requests.
—Do you have a particular style of haircut?
I am not a professional hair stylist, so I don’t really have any special preferences that I can pass on to others, so I always ask my hairstylist how to set my hair. I always ask my hairdresser how to set my hair. I also consider a good hairdresser to be one who can cut my hair well without any complicated setting techniques. If you think about it, this is the fourth requirement for a good hairdresser. I think the secret of a good haircut is to meet a hairdresser who will do his/her best to reproduce that haircut in your daily life!
By the way, let me explain a little about my current haircut… I had my hair cut from the sides to the back to give it a sporty, masculine look. I had the hair loosely permed on the top to make it easier to set in the morning. Also, when taking pictures, if the hair was completely black, it would look washed out, so Shoya suggested adding a gray mesh to give it a three-dimensional look.
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The hair is trimmed from the sides to the collar at 6mm to avoid too much transparency.
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A subtle gray mesh adds dimension.
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The Elements of Manliness (3) “Symmetrical Small Face Aimed for by Abstaining from Confectionery and with the Help of God Hands”
In addition to his daily diet and self-care, Mr. Tsukahara sometimes relies on professional help in his pursuit of a tight, small face and a crisp facial expression.
I admire players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Yoshinori Muto of Vissel Kobe in Japan, and also the toned face, expression, and balanced head and body of model Traiko, who often appears on OTOKOMAE. I wanted to get as close as possible, so I stopped eating fast food and switched to a diet centered on rice, fish, and vegetables. Also, I’m a big fan of western sweets like Mont Blanc and financier, but I can never stop eating sweets themselves… I replaced these with Japanese sweets such as Dorayaki. I don’t worry too much about the calories themselves and eat as much as I want, but I am very careful about fat. I try to cut out fattening fats such as meat fat and butter as much as possible, and focus on good fats such as fish fat and olive oil.
— Japanese sweets contain only a small amount of fat and are said to be better for you than Western sweets. I hear that you also do self-care for your small face?
Yes, I stock a large amount of dorayaki (lol). I sometimes eat them, feeling guilty when I inevitably get hungry late at night, but strangely, I don’t gain weight. As for self-care, I recently bought an ”
electric burr brush. I’ve always been curious about it because I’ve heard that many celebrities use it, and it’s quite useful for removing swelling from the face.
—Any other recommendations for a smaller face?
“[small face correction]. Actually, I was troubled by the distortion of my face, especially my right eye position being down and the distortion of the bridge of my nose, and at first I was thinking about plastic surgery. Then, a good friend of mine recommended that I go to a small face correction before that. I was skeptical, but it turned out to be a great decision. The director of
Re:face, a salon specializing in small face correction in Osaka, is known by word of mouth as a god hand. He uses a unique method called radio waves, in which high frequency electromagnetic waves are guided through the body of the practitioner. It was a little scary, but just by looking at me during the consultation, he said, ” Mr. Tsukahara, you have a weak stomach. I was surprised that he guessed that I had always had a weak gastrointestinal tract, which I had not written down in the medical questionnaire. When I asked him how he knew, he said, “I can tell by your breathing and posture.
Tsukahara says that by going to Small Face Correction, “not only the distortion of my face, but also my autonomic nervous system was corrected, and the quality of my sleep has improved and my physical condition has improved a lot.” Before and after images of the small face correction are shown below. ( Left: before treatment, right: after treatment )
—The before and after images show that the eyes have become larger and the face as a whole looks tighter. The left and right eye lines that Ms. Tsukahara mentioned also go straight through, and the distortion of the face looks much improved.
My eyes actually got about 2mm bigger, my constitution improved, and my work performance improved because my body became more comfortable. My appearance has also improved and since I have been going to the small face correction, every time I meet someone at a client’s office, they ask me, “Have you lost weight? “What’s wrong? I’m surprised at how much I’ve changed.
The essence of manliness (4) “Avoid losing points by taking care of your smell, and aim for popularity by using perfume!
If you want to be a good-looking man, it is out of the question if you have not eliminated “stinky” smells such as bad breath and perspiration. To make a good impression, Tsukahara says that you should also pay attention to your choice of perfume.
Even if you go to the trouble of keeping up appearances, it’s all ruined by a bad smell. In my case, every night after taking a shower and before going to bed, I apply
enio deodorant cream to areas where I am particularly concerned about odor, such as underarms and neck area. And I always carry
EG Deo 24 deodorant powder spray with me when I go out. I am very thorough about this, because I believe that the moment you are perceived as uncool, your chances of starting business or love are zero.
—What kind of perfume do you choose?
The common denominator of perfumes I prefer is citrus. By the way, my all-time favorite, although it is a standard product, is
Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino. It is citrusy, but I like it because it doesn’t give me a nasally feeling. I realized that I prefer the scent of neroli (essential oil extracted from bitter orange flowers), and when I was looking for a new perfume with a neroli axis, I came across
Celine’s Parade. I was looking for a new perfume based on neroli, and I came across Celine’s Parade. This perfume has a strong scent of neroli and bergamot (citrus fruit), but I thought bergamot might also be good here, so I bought
Tom Ford’s Soleil Neige, and now I am hooked on this one.
—You are choosing based on fragrance ingredients.
That’s basically what I do now, but in the past I used a certain popular perfume advertised by my favorite Hollywood actor, just for the image. However, this was unpopular with women at every turn. I liked the fragrance, but it seemed to be perceived as persistent that I, with my dark face, was wearing a thick fragrance (cry). However, I always spray a tester on my own skin and go around the store to experience the actual fragrance and make a purchase after I am satisfied with it, instead of buying it right away. I am a big fan of Estnation in Grand Front Osaka because of its lineup of perfumes with good taste.
—Do you have any tips on how to find a good perfume?
I know it takes a bit of courage and is tricky, but if you see a man who smells good, even if he is a stranger, you should say, ” You smell nice, what are you using?” I sometimes get asked that question myself, but I don’t think I’m the only one who gets asked that question. I am sometimes asked that question myself, and it makes me very happy to hear someone of the same sex say that because it makes me feel as if my sense of style has been recognized, so I gladly tell them. I think that if you go to department stores and select stores where you can try various perfumes at the same time, and ask the staff about that perfume and perfumes similar to that perfume, you will surely find a perfume that you like.
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