The woman, now 22, enrolled in the school in 2015 and was told by teachers roughly every four days to dye her hair black despite her explanations that she was born with brown hair.
Tokyo: There is a saying in Japan: “When rules exist, they have to be obeyed.”
But there are surely few rules as pointless, divisive and cruel as the widely enforced regulation that Japanese schoolchildren must have straight jet-black hair, sociologists and activists say.
It is supposed to prevent rebellious students - girls and boys alike - from dyeing or perming their hair and encourage them to concentrate on their studies. But as with other rules here, including a ban on dating and a requirement that students wear white underwear, the result often fuels discrimination, crushes individuality and enforces a rigid conformity that holds Japan back, according to critics.
Few rules are as pointless and cruel as the regulation that Japanese schoolchildren must have straight jet-black hair, sociologists & activists say.
Japanese Student Forced to Dye Her Hair Black Wins, and Loses, in Court
In a split ruling, a court in Osaka ordered the school to pay some damages for emotional distress, but it said the rule that students’ hair must be black did not violate regulations.
The student’s case in Osaka, Japan, set off a national reckoning over invasive school rules and an outcry against regulations that left little room for individuality. Credit.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Feb. 19, 2021
Like many schools in Japan, where most people are born with straight, black hair, the Kaifukan Senior High School in Osaka is fussy about students’ appearances. Perms and braided extensions are off limits, as are dyed and bleached hair.