What makes kids scared

Last week, my English school had a Halloween party.

I wore a sexy (I know I'm not a sexy-type, but when a grown-up woman chooses a Halloween costume...we have just two options. Sexy or silly.) witch costume under my coat, and arrived at school.
My co-worker, Seth, was already there, wearing a Japanese-lord （お殿様）costume and a topknot(ちょんまげ） wig. Our manager got the Japanese costume & wig cause she thought it might be very funny & cute if an American young guy wore them...
Yes, he looked perfectly cute for me, but he looked disappointed.
"You look great! ...But, is it something wrong?"
I asked Seth, then he said to me,
"Thank you...but Mai cried when she saw me, so now I'm changing."

Mai is 4 year old kid student. She has come to my class and Mark's class, two times a week to our school.
She has been our student since she was one-year-old, so she was a brilliant student...
Her English doesn't seem a 4-year-old one's.
Every teaching staffs were surprised when she got a full score of the United Nation's English test for kids!!

Even though she's got used to our school & teachers, she cried when she saw Seth, an "American-version of a Japanese lord."
To us, it was funny, but to her, it was completely frightening.

Seth changed his costume to "Elvis Presley," an American superstar singer.
Then, Mai stopped crying, came closer to Seth, asking, "Who are you??" smiling...

I couldn't stop wondering.
Why did she cry when she saw a Japanese lord costume??
What made her scared?? Why Elvis Presley was OK to her, but Japanese lord was not??

After I got home, my hubby gave me an mind-blowing answer.
"It's clear! Because she has been at English school, she is westernized!! That's why she didn't like a Japanese costume! She wanted to say, "I love American costumes! Halloween is an American festival, don't bring a Japanese style!!" Don't you think so??!"

....Well, I don't know...
I have no idea what makes kids scared sometimes...

Another day, I had a class at my condo (Every Friday, I teach English soccer boys in my condo.)
When I asked "How are you?" a six grader kid, he stared at me and said...
"I'm...scared!! Your make-up is just thick!!"

After I got home and told that to my hubby, he said.
"A score to him!! I'm with him!!"

...I have no idea why kids are scared by a Japanese costume or my make-up, but my hubby seems to completely understand why.
...Is it fair or unfair???