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Preschool. That tender age between three- and five-years-old where kids cry whenever they are separated from their parents but change moods instantly when something entertaining happens. They are only beginning to discover the crazy mad, mad world around them. It’s like they don’t have a care in the world! They can eat what they want, wear what they want, and do what they want! They should cherish these worry-free years before they start encountering the real world problems of an elementary school first grader…right?

 Well…we hate to break it to you but…

Bazinga! Preschoolers in Japan.

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Image: Twitter

Okay…this is certainly not what ALL preschoolers in Japan look like, but it is certainly a trending topic that has Japanese netizens taking to their keyboards, especially when this picture came out last year.

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Image: Hamsoku

That leopard wearing, sunglass clad child was only a preschooler at the time the photo was taken, which elicited the appropriate response from the internet of:

“That’s crazy!”

And

“I fear for the future of children like this.”

Since then, more and more magazines and blogs have featured pictures of kids dressed in these outfits. Dressing up your toddler like this isn’t cheap; usually these clothes and hairstyles are extremely costly! When faced with the following two pictures, netizens voiced their opinion again, once more declaring this fashion wholly unacceptable. A common thread runs through many of their comments.

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Image: Twitter

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Image: Twitter

“They’re at risk of going bald!”

“When you bleach a kid’s hair like that, they will definitely go bald.”

“I’m really worried about them going bald.”

“That’s so sad…they’re only preschoolers and look at their head…”

Medical fact or internet rumor? It’s certainly a cause for concern when fashion may have a direct impact on the amount of hair someone will have in the future. Of course, when you look at someone dressed up like that it’s not just the hair that is worrisome.

 “It’s a living dress up doll.”

“It’s like they’re pets.”

“There will be bullying and trauma in the kids’ futures.”

“Bad parents that treat their kids like toys; it would be good to immediately erase them from the world.”

“It’s really sad how pathetic the parents are.”

There seems to be no sympathy for the parents who dress their kids this way and when you look at the pictures, it’s hard to imagine that this is a positive experience for the children.

After staring at the pictures and wondering if that was real hair, we realized that the two pictures above are actually the same person! This five-year-old boy dreams of becoming a member of Johnny’s and has a website and idol name already: Ryuchalo.

▼Clothing brought to you by: Chubbygang!

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Image: 5 Year Old Host: Ryuchalo

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Image: 5 Year Old Host: Ryuchalo

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Image: 5 Year Old Host: Ryuchalo

He already has over 16,000 friends on his blog. Is that 16,000 other preschoolers? Or is it 16,000 parents looking to dress up their own children this way?

▼ A dog who teaches you English? This is a little Charo that we could get behind!

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Image: YouTube

Hopefully, this is a minor fad; a passing trend like parachute pants and slap bracelets. But you can never quite tell in Japan. We’ve certainly heard of parents who live vicariously through their kids, but these parents seem to be dressing vicariously through them too!

Source: Hamusoku
Top Image: Ponyo Wiki