Jack Dawson’s beloved Rose joins us for this titanic journey from ordinary to extraordinary.

Over half a year has passed since our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa had a haircut. The last time he went in for a trim was when he visited Shea, a hair salon in Tokyo’s Aoyama neighborhood, where they turned him into one of the handsome characters from smash-hit anime franchise Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

▼ That’s seven months of regrowth right there.

With his anime hairstyle now grown out, Seiji was in the mood to change things up again, and this time he had another unusual idea in mind. He was looking to transform himself from ho-hum to Hollywood hunk, seeking out the help of two different salons to turn him into none other than…Leonardo DiCaprio.

▼ Seiji likes to aim high when it comes to makeovers.

Specifically, Seiji wanted Leo’s look in the role of Jack Dawson from the 1997 Hollywood film Titanic. To help him achieve the look, Seiji booked two appointments: one with beauty salon Ashuley in Shinjuku to take care of the colour, and the other with Shea for cut and style.

▼ At Ashuley, colourists Takeru Miyashiro and Kazuki Suzuki greeted Seiji, telling him they’d both be looking after him today.

▼ After taking a seat, Seiji whipped out his laptop to reveal his lofty makeover aspirations.

▼ “So…I’d like to look like this.”

Suzuki squinted at the screen, trying to work out where he’d seen this blonde-haired man before. As it turns out, the 27-year-old stylist had never seen Titanic, but thankfully he does know who DiCaprio is, and, most importantly, Suzuki knew how to bring the star’s colour to Seiji’s hair.

▼ The stylists made a quick visit to the backroom to choose the best colours for the project.

After listening to the stylists’ advice, Seiji decided to have his locks double-dyed, first with bleach to cover his roots, and then with a colour called “Greige” (grey + beige) to bring it all together, with a few highlights here and there to mimic the look of Jack from Titanic.

▼ The bleach worked quickly, taking only 30 minutes to turn his hair a golden blonde.

On its own, this is too light for the character of Jack, but that’s where the Greige steps in to provide some much-needed depth of colour…

▼ …along with a few subtle highlights for added brightness.

The stylists diligently worked their magic on Seiji’s barnet, ensuring no hair was left unturned during the transformation.

And once the dyeing process was complete, Seiji’s hair was washed, finally revealing…

▼ Jack’s same hair colour!

The whole process took roughly three hours from start to finish, and cost 17,160 yen (US$156.83). Seiji wasn’t finished yet, though, as he still had to get Jack’s style, and for that, he needed the talent of our team’s long-suffering stylist, Koji Sato, at Shea.

▼ “It’s been a while since I last saw you! What would you like to have done today?”

Sato (no relation to our own Mr Sato), encourages his clients to bring photos to their appointment to help them achieve their dream look. So Seiji once again took out his laptop and pointed to the image on the screen…

▼ “I want to look like this.”

Having previously worked with our team on a number of zany makeovers, even turning five of our reporters into J-pop boy band SMAP, Sato immediately laughed and rolled his eyes — yet again — at Seiji.

▼ “So today you want to be…DiCaprio!!”

As expected, Sato was his usual charming and charismatic self, playfully teasing Seiji for his makeover antics, while also dutifully studying DiCaprio’s hair to help make Seiji’s dreams a reality.

▼ First things first: Time to snip that hair!

▼ Goodbye, hair!

According to Sato, Jack’s hairstyle is actually quite similar to the “handsome short” style that’s currently in vogue at the moment. As the stylist snipped away, commenting on how trends tend to return in cycles over the years, Seiji began to realise just how short the style really was when he started to feel the air kiss the back of his neck.

Once the cut was complete, it was time to move on to styling, and Sato had everything under control, masterfully using a hair straightener to bring Jack back to life from his watery grave.

By this time, the sun had already set, and after a total of four hours at two hairdressers, at a total cost of 24,860 yen, Seiji’s voyage was finally complete.

You better believe Seiji was all-in on the makeover project, even bringing along a Jack-like outfit for the final reveal.

▼ Look at that gorgeous cut and colour!

▼ Surely, that’s not you, Seiji? Seiji?

▼ “My name’s not Seiji.”

▼ “Call me Jack!”

▼ Jack!

▼ Jack?!

▼ “I’m the king of the world!”

And because Jack just ain’t Jack without his Rose, our colleague Mariko Ohanabatake stepped in to fill that role.

▼ “I’m flying, Jack!”

▼ Nothing on Earth could ever come between them…except maybe Seiji’s wife.

This brings us to the end of our epic tale of adventure, passion, and courage, as one man realises his dreams in Tokyo. Sure, he might not be mistaken for Dicaprio on the street, but Seiji’s just thankful he has hair to play with at all.

Related: ashuley, SHEA.aoyama
Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]