SCHOOLS in Japan are famous for imposing bizarre rules upon its students, from implementing a white-only underwear policy to regulating the length of their socks.
Now, a new rule has been imposed in Japanese schools where female students are banned from wearing ponytails because “the nape of their necks could sexually excite male students”.
Vice World News reported that there are no statistics on how many schools in Japan have prohibited ponytails, but according to a 2020 survey, at least 1 in 10 schools in Fukuoka have definitely banned ponytails.
Now, however, there is a movement pushing back against these outlandish rules, in part led by former teacher Motoki Sugiyama.
He was quoted as saying: “They’re worried boys will look at girls, which is similar to the reasoning behind upholding a white-only underwear colour rule. I’ve always criticised these rules, but because there’s such a lack of criticism and it’s become so normalised, students have no choice but to accept them.”
The former teacher mentioned that he taught at five different schools over 11 years, and in all the schools, ponytails were banned too. He also pointed out several other restrictions upon student's hair colours, the length of their skirts and socks and even the shape of their eyebrows.
According to VICE, parents and students have increasingly raised objections to such rules, prompting some schools to change them.
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