The sheer length of hair on the head of Seina Maret, sophomore, catches the eyes of his peers. Maret styles his hair in rat-tail that hangs from the nape of his neck to his hips. As a hybrid of a mullet,he rat-tail hairdo consists of trimmed hair, but leaving one strand to grow down one’s back. His eccentric hair choice, however, was not just a spur of the moment decision. Maret’s hair style was influenced by his family’s history.
Maret was born in the city of Wahiawa, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu into a multi-cultural family with a French father and Japanese mother. His father was studying English at the University of Hawaii, and through the college became an intern in Japan and ended up staying. After meeting in Japan, Maret’s parents moved back to Hawaii.
Maret lived in Hawaii until he was 4. When he was 3, Maret noticed other Hawaiians wearing their hair in the rat-tail style.
“It was some kind of Hawaiian trend at the time,” Maret said. “I decided to copy their Hawaiian style and haven’t cut it [since].”
Since then, Maret said he only cuts his hair when the tips are dead.
“[Students usually ask me] why I have that rat-tail, or, ‘Oh, you have that rat-tail,’” Maret said. “They usually comment how it’s kind of strange, but it never really upsets me.”
After living in Hawaii and growing his first rat-tail, Maret’s family moved back to Tokyo, Japan. He lived there until he finished sixth grade, then moved to Kirkwood at the beginning of his seventh grade year at Nipher Middle School. Maret said the lifestyle in Japan was different than it is in Kirkwood.
“In Japan, a lot of people live with their parents and are in touch with their parents more,” Maret said. “We met with my grandma on a daily basis.”
Maret is now able to speak fluent English, Japanese and some French, but he said other than “Aloha,” he knows nothing of the Hawaiian language. He expresses his family’s culture everyday when he brings Japanese food, such as stir fry, for lunch.
Maret has lived across the globe, learning new languages and exploring new cultures. Along the way he picked up the rat-tail hairstyle.
“It seems [more] natural to have my tail than not,” Maret said. “My tail illustrates my Hawaiian childhood and the lasting impact it had on me.”
