Tokyo schools abandon "archaic rules" that regulate hair styles and underwear color

newsonjapan.com -- Mar 12
Tokyo public high schools will completely abolish rules that include specifying the color of underwear, the dying of natural hair color uniformly to black, and outlawing "two block" haircuts that shave the side of the head.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education on March 10th decided to abolish 5 rules that also include home detention and the use of ambiguous expressions such as "student-ish" in all 196 public high schools from next year.

In April last year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education issued a notice requesting all schools in the metropolitan area to review the school rules.

いわゆる「ブラック校則」が、すべての都立学校で廃止されます。 　廃止される校則は下着の色を指定すること、生まれつきの髪色を一律に黒色に染めさせること、頭の側面のみを刈り上げる「ツーブロック」を禁止すること、自宅で謹慎させること、「高校生らしい」などのあいまいな表現で指導することの合わせて5つです。 　東京都教育委員会は10日、来年度から196校すべての都立高校などで廃止することを決めました。 　都教委は去年4月、都立のすべての学校に対して校則を点検するよう求める通知を出していました。 - ANNnewsCH
20 Japanese school rules you won’t believe actually exist
The Fancy Banana - Jun 30
There are few places in the world that get quite as much curiosity pointed at their ways of doing things than Japan.
Aristocratic schools rush into Japan, attract China's elite class
Spotlight on China - Jun 30
Elite boarding schools with superb facilities are mushrooming across Japan. The second-generation wealthy from China is the target of these prestigious international schools as they try to attract students from Asian households.
The rise and fall and rise and fall and rise of Japan
h0ser - Jun 30
Japan is a country which has gone through many phases of power and decline. Here are the last (and future) 5 of those phases. Why does Japan go through these, and what will happen in its future?
205 applicants pass preliminary tests in JAXA astronaut recruitment
NHK - Jun 28
Japan's space agency has announced that 205 applicants have passed preliminary examinations in its latest astronaut recruitment.
This is a Day in My Japanese School
akidearest - Jun 28
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is a really intense exam that really puts your Japanese skills to the test and depending on the level that you take and the score that you get it can be a really useful tool when looking for opportunities in Japan.
International schools offer golf, skiing in Japan, luring rich Chinese parents
straitstimes.com - Jun 27
An international school building boom is underway in Japan, fuelled by top-shelf names in education seeking to attract the children of wealthy Asian families, especially from China.
The True Reason Why Japanese Uses Three Different Characters
Let's ask Shogo - Jun 25
The biggest obstacle that every student studying Japanese will face… The three Japanese characters, right? Even we Japanese study kanji throughout the nine years of compulsory education, and we still sometimes misuse them.
Changes in the proportion of anemia among young women after the Great East Japan Earthquake: the Fukushima health management survey
Nature - Jun 25
This study aimed to evaluate the sequential changes in the proportion of anemia among young women over eight years after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 using a prospective study of the Fukushima Health Management Survey.
Japan recognizes a record number of work-related mental health cases
NHK - Jun 24
Japan's health ministry says in the last fiscal year that ended in March, a record 629 cases of depression and other mental health issues were recognized as work-related and eligible for compensation.
Survey shows nearsightedness occuring early among schoolchildren
NHK - Jun 24
A Japanese government survey shows that nearsightedness is starting to occur at an early age, affecting 6th-graders at the same level as adults.
If you move to Japan… you’ll be stuck here permanently
Cash Jordan - Jun 23
Japan is so different from what most Americans are used to that its very easy to get lost just by walking around.
Japan crowdfund for forest that inspired film
hurriyetdailynews.com - Jun 22
A Japanese city is launching a crowdfunding campaign to help preserve a special spot of woodland: The forest that inspired the animator of beloved movie “My Neighbour Totoro.”
Soft Power Japan — From Cool Japan to Cold Japan
Asia Society - Jun 22
University of Oxford researcher Warren A. Stanislaus explains how the elements of “coldness” of Japanese pop culture, manga, anime, and games were disassembled and reassembled into grime music and, in turn, empowered the marginalized youth in the U.K. Stanislaus discussed the creation of a platform to make “Cold Japan” a source of soft power.
Dark Side Of Manga and Anime Industry | Ask a Manga Artist
Japanese Comedian Meshida - Jun 22
Japan is famous among foreigners for anime and manga. Today I've invited my manga friend who worked as a manga artist for 10 years and asked him about the industry.
Record number of women pass career-track bureaucrat exams
NHK - Jun 20
A record number of women have passed this year's national civil servant exams in Japan to become career-track bureaucrats with the central government.
'The power of cannabis': Japan embraces CBD despite drug taboo
malaymail.com - Jun 17
With its zero-tolerance cannabis laws, deep social stigma against the drug and moves to tighten rules on consumption, Japan is no stoner's paradise.