Nov 02 (Japan Times) - Do you need to have a buzz cut to be on a high school baseball team in Japan?
A Kahoku Shimpo reader from Sendai has a son in high school who wants to continue playing baseball but is not comfortable clipping his hair short — a tradition for high school boys on the baseball team.
The Kahoku Shimpo spoke to trainers with baseball teams as well as with the Miyagi High School Baseball Federation on whether the hairstyle is a requirement for team members nowadays.
For baseball players at Shibata High School in Shibata, Miyagi Prefecture, which won a spot for the first time to play in the national high school baseball tournament in the spring, clipping their hair short is a tacit rule.
“They only have two and a half years to dedicate themselves to baseball,” said the team’s coach Makoto Hiratsuka, 48. “So I want the students to concentrate on baseball instead of thinking about their hairstyles.”
When asked about the main reasons behind the rule, many high school baseball team coaches talked about tradition, the need to focus on the sport and that it’s easier to play that way.
However, none of them believed the hairstyle would affect a student’s baseball skill or performance.
Furukawa Gakuen in the city of Osaki also requires all of its players to have close-cropped hair.
“It is about the mindset and attitude towards baseball,” said the team’s coach, Ryo Yonekura, 37, pointing out that each school has its own regulations and students have the freedom to choose the schools to which they apply. ...continue reading
