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For decades, being a student in Tokyo meant you had to look a certain way. Under the public school system's dress code, all students had to dye their hair black, certain hairstyles were prohibited and even their underwear had to be a designated color. |
But these rules, which have recently come under scrutiny and been criticized as outdated, will now be abolished, the city's authorities announced this week. |
A total of five rules will be dropped by nearly 200 public schools across the Japanese capital, including regulations on hair and underwear color, and a ban on "two block" hairstyles, which are long on top and short at the back and sides -- a style currently in fashion in many countries. |
Other rules being cut include the practice of punishing students with a form of house arrest, and ambiguous language in the guidelines on what is considered "typical of high school students." |
The policy changes go into effect at the start of the new academic year on April 1. The move came after Tokyo's board of education conducted a survey last year that asked schools, students and parents about their views on the policies. |
Tokyo isn't the only Japanese city with a strict dress code -- similar rules are in effect around the country, with many schools requiring students to wear shoes and socks of a designated color. |
Schools in Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu, also have rules restricting students' hairstyles and dictating both the color and pattern of their underwear, according to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. |
Like Tokyo, Fukuoka conducted a public survey last year, in which students complained that the dress code caused them stress and limited their self-expression, Asahi reported. |
The issue was thrust into the spotlight in 2017 when a high school student in Osaka prefecture sued her school, a case that attracted national attention and prompted widespread public debate on restrictive dress codes. |
She alleged that she had been forced to dye her naturally brown hair black when she first joined the school, and was told to re-dye it every time her brown roots grew back, according to Asahi. She was eventually given academic penalties for not dyeing it often enough. |
Her lawsuit complained that the frequent coloring had damaged her hair and scalp, and caused her mental distress. Last year, she won 330,000 yen in damages. |
Other students and families have since spoken out with similar complaints, while several schools have announced changes to their dress codes. |
This spring, a school in Ube, Yamaguchi prefecture, will become the first in the city to introduce a "genderless" uniform, with students of all genders given a choice between slacks and skirts, Asahi reported -- a major break from the strictly gendered dress codes still widespread in Japan. |
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