News Japanese schools to relax uniform rules, go unisex and eco-friendly

New junior high school students in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, will have uniform jackets for the winter and navy blue polo shirts for the summer, with each student, regardless of gender, allowed to choose between pants and skirts, and ribbon ties and regular ties to go with the jackets and shirts. The five schools' current uniforms include stand-up collar jackets for boys and sailor-style tops and skirts for girls. However, some issues have been pointed out, including that they are not made to deal with global warming, price differences in uniforms between schools, gendered clothes being inconsistent with today's ideals of diversity, and the difficulty reusing the uniforms due to their lack of versatility.

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"More junior high schools are introducing gender-free uniforms," said Yoshiyasu Kaneda, a managing executive officer at Japan Wool Textile, who oversees the company's uniform business. [...]
Kaneda noted a growing number of schools are adopting blazers with more gender-neutral designs out of consideration for sexual minorities, though uniforms with stand-up collars and sailor-like clothing are still typically prepared for boys and girls, respectively, at public junior high schools. In 2020, 65 public junior high schools in Fukuoka marked a turning point in having new gender-neutral uniforms for the sake of sexual minorities.

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thomas said:

Hmm, hair colour, beard and bald head are non-compliant.

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