10 Japanese school rules that are pretty weird

Last month, a Japanese female high school student with natural brown hair was forced to dye her hair black by the school. The incident created an uproar and sparked discussions. Japanese Twitter users have since been posting weird school rules they faced with the hashtags #こんな校則いらない (we don’t need this kind of school rule) and #ブラック校則 (“black” school rules). Let’s take a look at some of the more ridiculous ones below.

1. Female students’ undergarments must be white. The girls are assembled in a separate room. Their blouses are unbuttoned and their skirts are flipped in an inspection by female teachers.

2. Wrapping a muffler around the neck even if you have a weak throat is not allowed, whereas using a towel is fine.

3. During summer, even if it is hot at a school assembly, you cannot cool yourself down using a fan, your clothes or your hand. Everyone tried to endure it but a female student fell to the floor with a seizure.

4. The school-provided helmet of the bicycle used for travelling to school is not replaceable, even if it is broken in an accident. The school is trying to emphasise taking care of your helmet as it is the only one you will have. But it makes you wonder how much they value a student’s life, asking them to use a broken helmet all the way till graduation.

5. Being forced to use tampons during one’s menstrual period when it is time for swimming lesson. Not only do you feel uncomfortable during your period, it is also not ideal to cool your body by going into the water. If you choose to sit out, you have to attend supplementary classes during the summer vacation and swim 500m.

6. Regardless of the distance and how heavy your bag is, you have to walk to school, even if it takes more than 40 minutes. Moreover, you are not allowed to hydrate yourself.

7. Wearing nude stockings or white socks to school is okay, but black tights are not allowed for no particular reason.

8. Not allowed to make noise during preparation time for lunch and the last 10 minutes of lunch. Otherwise, you will not have the option to ask for seconds, or ask for less food the next day.

9. Forced to join an activity club.

10. Getting denied entry to school every morning because of a perm and brown hair. After showing the certificate to prove that her hair is natural, a girl was denied entry for having a darker skin colour.

As with all rules and regulations, they are meant to institute order. But in some cases, they may seem overboard and redundant. Have you faced any weird school rules too? Comment below!

Read more:

• Japanese people compete for the worst cat photo on Twitter

• Would you wear these Japanese ‘fried chicken’ pants?

• Human faeces terrorising Japanese commuters, one station at a time