Japanese schools have a reputation for enforcing some really weird rules, but few among these rules are as eyebrow-raising as the one where students are required to don all-white underwear.
In a number of schools across the country, this particular rule has been enforced to horrifying effect.
Reports have mentioned staff members in certain schools reportedly going as far as tugging on female students' bra straps, or monitoring students as they change into their sports activity outfits just to see whether or not they have on white underwear.
The last several months, however, have seen rules such as these come into scrutiny, with many Japanese citizens calling for the erasure of policies that infringe on privacy and potentially violate human rights.
Thankfully, at least one governing body has heeded said calls. After carrying out a study pertaining to questionable school regulations, the Saga prefecture's board of education discovered that at least 14 of its 51 administered middle and high schools had rules that enforced all-white underwear.
During a recent meeting the board addressed the regulations and came to an agreement to abolish the rule. This means that from the beginning of the upcoming 2021 school year in Japan, there will no longer be any checks on the color of students' underwear – a decision that will no doubt come as relief to the affected students.
Additionally, 35 other schools were told to abolish a rule that enforced designations for student uniforms based on male or female gender specifications – possibly an acknowledgment of today's new gender norms, while three other schools did away with a rule that required students with non-black or curly hair to provide documentation verifying that their hair was natural.
A few other Japanese schools also did away with odd rules such as not allowing the use of lap warmers, disallowing character straps on school bags, and enforcing strict colors for socks and sweaters. Instead, the schools have agreed that the students can make such decisions for themselves without any detriment to their academic results.
With all these changes now coming into effect, it'll be interesting to see what other baffling Japanese school rules will be addressed next. For starters, maybe they'd like to address the rule where windows must remain open during classes – even in chilly conditions – for the sake of lowering the chance of COVID-19 infections.
Japanese public schools banned from checking color of students' underwear
Putting a stop to a really weird practice.
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