Woman who held longest hair record has her first ever haircut

Keito Kawahara, a former record holder for the longest hair on a teenager, had her first ever haircut.

Held at a local hairdresser in her hometown of Kagoshima, Japan, the momentous event on Tuesday 2 April gathered considerable media attention.

Having never had a haircut in her life, Keito broke the record at 155.5 cm (5 ft 1.22 in) in early 2018; she held the record until she turned 18 on 8 April that year.

Speaking to Guinness World Records after her record was confirmed, Keito explained her hair covers a scar on her head.

"My hair grew long as a result and I felt it would be a waste if I trim it. Now I don’t know when to stop growing it," she said at the time.

Japanese teenager Keito Kawahara has never had a haircut in her life - now she's claimed a new longest hair record 💇🏻❌ https://t.co/dOhuAunbQZ pic.twitter.com/VewBegGqhO
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) April 6, 2018

But now she's had it trimmed. According to Keito, she was already considering cutting her hair as early as March 2018, just as her record was confirmed.

"A Guinness World Records title brought good memories - then I thought it might be a good time to cut it," she said.

So this year, she decided to go for a drastic makeover just before her first term at university.

Despite having to put a pair of scissors through the hair for the first time, she says waking up in the morning felt like any other day.

However, her family (who were initially against Keito's plan) felt sad to see her long hair go. The moment the scissors touched the hair, one family member couldn't hold her breath and said "wait, are you sure?".

However since her trip to the hairdresser, Keito's family are noticing changes now she doesn't have locks stretching more than one-and-a-half metres.

"We used to help her wash, dry and braid her hair, but now she does it all by herself," said her mother, Yukiya Hirano.

However for Keito's grandfather, Yukiya Hirano, the change might take some time getting used to. When he went to the train station to pick up Keito, he couldn't recognize her even when she was standing right in front of him!

The cut hair has not gone to waste either - over 100 g of it was donated to the non-profit Japan Hair Donation & Charity.

"I hope the donated hair will help someone who had lost their hair due to illness. It would be really nice if they will feel happy from it," Keito Kawahara.

Now that she had her first ever haircut, she is already thinking of trying different hair styles.

"I want to try perming my hair, or try bob style... and definitely want to colour my hair."

The current record holder for the longest hair on a teenager is Nilanshi Patel, a 16-year-old girl from Gujarat, India, who's nicknaned Rapunzel.

When her hair was measured in November 2018 it was 170.5 cm (5 ft 7 in).