Seiji experiences a roller-coaster of emotions after a shocking discovery.

2019 was an eventful year for our Japanese writer Seiji Nazkazawa. He got married, toured internationally with a rock band, and successfully completed his hair transplant. 

But the old habits of a once-balding man die hard, and every once in a while Seiji gets the urge to do a little “bald-surfing.” This is where he goes online reading the stories of other balding men to learn more about the change of life and how other people deal with it.

However, this time when Seiji typed in the common Japanese word “hage” (baldie) he made a startling discovery.

▼ “It’s me!!!”

Not only did Seiji’s own face appear when googling “baldie” but his was the first one to pop up, making it THE face of baldness in Japan. 

He was initially furious at the algorithmic slight and wondered how this could have happened. Sure, he documented and published his own hair transplant experiences on the website, but among the vast baldness information available online, was his story really that popular?

It was disheartening that he went to all that trouble only to be constantly reminded of his own hair-loss history any time he searched about it. But after a little thinking, that blow to his pride began to fade away.

He noticed that he was among good company in the search results. Former SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was there too, along with comedian and actor Tomoharu Shoji, and ISSA of Da Pump. Even the legendary actor Yoichi Nurumizu was among this exclusive club of involuntary “baldies” of which Seiji wasn’t only the chairman. He was also a member.

And in the end, while it’s not as glamorous as being the face of Taco Bell, if his own story and likeness can help others learn to adapt to their receding hairlines, then he’ll feel pretty good about being the premier balding man of Japan.

Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]