Uprising against Japanese school regulations

In Japan, every school institution has its own code, but the strict regulations of some schools that impose everything from head to toe are subject to criticism and lawsuits.

Toshiyuki Kusumoto, the father of two children from the southwestern city of Oita, went to court to protect his youngest son from school regulations that described him as “irrational.”

The rules, among other things, relate to the prohibition of the length of the hair, ponytail, headband and low socks, imposes an obligation that the shoelaces should be white.

“This type of school regulation violates respect for individual freedoms and human rights guaranteed by the Constitution.” Kusmoto, who is a professional lawyer and hopes that the norms will be revised, told AFP.

Reforms are already underway in Tokyo, and recently announced that strict rules on issues such as hair color will be abolished in public schools in the capital since April.

- Student's misfortune -

This type of standard begins to be applied when students are about 12 years old.

Takashi Otsu, a professor of education at Mukogawa Women's University (West), appeared after the 1970s, saying that “violence against teachers became a social problem, and schools tried to control the situation through regulations.”

“Although some types of standards are required (...) Transparency and ideally involve students to make decisions (...)”, he assures.

In 2017, a Japanese student from Osaka Prefecture (West) had to dye her hair black (which was naturally brown) and took part in the trial of this case, claiming compensation of 2.2 million yen (17,000 euros, 18,500 dollars) for psychological damage.

This issue had a lot of impact, and in 2021, the Ministry of Education ordered the Board of Education to ensure that school regulations apply to real life.

However, the Court and the Court of Appeals ruled that facilities may require students to dye their hair black in case of “various educational” purposes.

Despite these rulings, the 22-year-old girl did not resign and filed an appeal with the Supreme Court last November.

- “Feeling of unity” -

Other measures have also been initiated, such as a petition sent to the Ministry of Education by the student branch of Voice Up Japan, a rights organization in January.

The Ministry of Education urges schools to encourage students to discuss changing standards.

“We started this campaign because some members had unpleasant experiences with school rules,” said 16-year-old Hatsune Sawada, one of the students promoting the initiative.

In Oita, public school students are required to wear different uniforms for men and women, and boys should wear pants and girls' skirts.

However, the provincial education council affirms that these rules “allow not only to maintain a sense of unity among students, but also to reduce the economic burden of buying clothes for families.”

Kusumoto disagrees. “The feeling of unity will have to be generated spontaneously, not imposed,” he said, “if you impose this type of rule, “the students will stop thinking,” he said.

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