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Japan Survey Finds Widespread School Discrimination Against Naturally Curly Hair
A survey of Japanese students with multiracial roots finds that many kids are changing their natural hairstyles to conform to school rules.
How have Japanese schools’ strict regulations on hair impacted students? The Tokyo Bar Association recently surveyed students with mixed or foreign racial backgrounds to find out. The results show how the regulations impact a disproportionate number of students.
Rules are rules? Or discrimination?
In a country where bringing Valentine’s Day chocolates or furikake rice toppings are arguably rude and ban-worthy, the list of forbidden behavior is long, to say the least.
Imposing rules on behavior is one thing. Regulating natural appearance to Japanese racial standards is another.
The latter is what Japan’s draconian hair rules tend to do, strictly punishing students who deviate from the standard. One example: a Japanese model who took high school classes in isolation for dying her hair purple, starkly different from black Japanese hair.
