Tokyo schools change rules - 18th April 2022

School rules about uniforms and hairstyles are going to change in Tokyo, Japan. This comes after a questionnaire was sent to students and teachers. Their answers showed the rules needed to be more modern.

200 secondary schools will drop five rules from the old uniform code. One rule says all students must have black hair. Another doesn't allow a certain 'two-block' hairstyle for boys. This is long on top of the head but short at the sides. A third rule relates to underwear, which has to be a certain colour.

The discussion about uniform code started a few years ago. An 18 year old student in Osaka had brown hair. She was told to colour her hair black. She was given no choice. The student complained. She later received money from the government as a kind of apology.

Last year, all public high schools in Mie, in the west of Japan, dropped rules about hairstyles and the colour of underwear. The local government said the rules were old-fashioned.

One educator, Kaori Yamaguchi, was pleased about the new rules. But she also said it had taken too long to update them.