A Japanese woman has 6ft-long black hair like a real-life Rapunzel.

Rin Kambe, 35, has not had a haircut for more than 15 years to grow her stunning raven locks.

The dancer and model from Tokyo said it was her childhood dream to become a hairdresser but she wasn’t allowed to grow her hair as a girl.

She said: “I grew up with strict parents and when I was a kid, I was on the girls' soccer team and always had a short cut because of this."

When Rin turned 20, she was able to ignore her parents and decided to grow her hair to the length she had always wanted.

Her hair is now 180cm long - around 13 centimetres longer than her height, so she has to tiptoe whenever she’s posing for photographs.

She spends almost an hour everyday brushing her hair to remove the tangles at the tip.

On regular days, she likes to tie her hair in a bun so it would be easier for her to move around.

Rin does not believe that keeping an extremely long hair is a nuisance as she thinks of it as a way to express herself.

She said: “I feel like my hair is a weapon of expression. It grew naturally and healthily and is a thing of beauty.

“My hair gave me the confidence to keep doing one thing without giving up."

However, she said she still receives bad comments about her hair “looking monstrous” but chooses to brush them off.

She said: “I think it's only natural that there are different opinions in the world and if I didn't believe in myself I would be swayed by the negative opinions."