Vernon B.C. isn鈥檛 the only place in the world where one can find a business branded after its namesake.
On top of Vernon Shoes, the Vernon Towne Cinema and the many other local hot spots, there鈥檚 also the Vernon hair salon in Gifu, Japan.
That鈥檚 according to Jason Emde, whose brother-in-law lives in Gifu and recently decided to name his salon after Emde鈥檚 hometown.
鈥淚f you come to Gifu in central Japan, you can get your hair cut at Vernon,鈥� he said.
On Saturday Emde told the Morning Star the salon has been in his wife鈥檚 family since the 1950s.
鈥淲hen it first opened it was called Suzu, which means bell,鈥� he said by instant message, unable to connect by phone from across the Pacific.
鈥淚t was also a short version of my wife鈥檚 grandmother鈥檚 maiden name, which was Suzuki.鈥�
The salon would go on to trade this sweet homage for something with a bit more 鈥榚xcitement鈥�; when the salon passed into the hands of his wife鈥檚 parents, they renamed it 鈥榃hoop-doo-doo.鈥�
鈥淲hich my father-in-law thought meant 鈥榣ike a festival.鈥欌��
Emde said his wife was a hairstylist at Whoop-doo-doo while her younger brother went to the big city to learn the 鈥渟mooth Tokyo techniques.鈥�
He and his brother-in-law both live in Gifu now; Emde has for the last 23 years.
When he鈥檇 returned to Gifu from Tokyo as a polished hairstylist, his brother-in-law wanted to re-brand the salon.
Emde helped.
鈥淚 remember sending him all kinds of suggestions for the new name 鈥斺�楥all it Purple Rain! Call it Strawberry Fields! Call it Jason!鈥欌�攂ut in the end, and for mysterious reasons of his own, he decided to call it Vernon,鈥� Emde said, adding it hadn鈥檛 been one of his suggestions.
鈥淗e鈥檚 never been to Vernon, but he thought it sounded cool.鈥�
When asked how Vernon (the city) compares to Gifu, Emde said the main difference is the latter is 鈥渁 bit鈥� bigger, with around half a million people.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 considered to be a bit of a backwater.鈥�
The story might sound similar to Pentictonites. Earlier this month the of a Tokyo restaurant named after Penticton.
As for Emde, while he loves Gifu for the Nagara River that runs through town, and the Castle of Mount. Kinka positioned in the middle of the city, he still has much love for Vernon after 23 years.
鈥淎ll my best to Vernon the city, which I miss a lot.鈥�
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