Even before I came to Japan, I have always loved Japanese school uniforms as seen in their animes. Students look neat and scholarly in their uniforms. So when I first saw the students here in Japan, it was like all the anime characters in my childhood came to life. And my thought was "So this is how they really dress like." What's more, there are interesting facts I have learned regarding students uniforms and related school apparel in Japan.
Here are some of them:
1.) Students have seasonal uniforms.
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| photo credit: http://www.japanretailnews.com/2/post/2012/06/japanese-school-uniforms-a-tale-of-imported-culture.html |
I know I shouldn't be surprised by this since Japan has four seasons. But I'm surprised anyway. During the warmer months, students wear shorts and shirts inside the school. Then during the cooler months, they would wear jogging pants and jackets. Outside, the would wear cooler polos and blouses while they wear coats during winter.
2.) Students change clothes upon arrival in the school.
I don't know if this applies to elementary and high school but in the Junior High Schools I have worked in, students change clothes when they arrive in school. Students will come to school i their formal looking uniforms- skirts and blouses for girls and pants and polos for boys. Then when they arrive in the school, they would change to their sports clothes and wear them for the rest of the day. They can change back to their formal uniform when they go home. The only reason I can think of why they do that is because they don't want to soil their uniforms.
3.) Students wear identical shoes.
Japan is all about belonging and being part of a group- even with their footwear. Japanese schools require students to have outdoor shoes, indoor shoes and gym shoes. All students have the same style in all of these type of shoes. Some schools add various colors to the students' indoor shoes depending on their grade level. In one of the schools I have been to, the first year have green lines on their shoes, the second year have blue and the third year have red. But the style is the same in all levels.
4.) Students have identical bags. The type of bag a student carries reveal what level he's in.
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| photo credit: http://yamamoto-fund.blogspot.jp/p/school-supplies-and-prices.html |
The concept of belonging to a group does not only stop with the footwear. It also goes to the students' school bags. Elementary students all over Japan have identical backpacks similar to Dora's that usually costs 30000 to 50000 Yen. According to a Japanese mother, the bag is expensive because it is very sturdy. Students will use it until they finish elementary. Even junior high and high school students have the same bags. The only difference is the school name and logo printed on their bags.
5.) Students must always wear identical outer wear.
It doesn't matter how many layers of clothes a students has during winter. What's important is that he should be wearing the school jacket outside all his clothes. There was even a teacher who disallow a student in removing his jacket even if that student feels warm already. The teacher's reason? The other students are wearing their jackets. Therefore, everyone should be wearing their jackets. That doesn't seem logical for me but that's how they think. Then this same teacher ask a student to remove his jacket because, according to him, it's not yet the season to wear jackets. Ironically, he is already wearing one.
Uniforms should really be identical but what struck me most I guess is that everything is just the same from the shoes to the bags. A Japanese teacher told me that the schools want the students to have identical things to avoid breeding envy. Initially, I think it's too much suppression of individuality. But then overtime, I realized that students in those school ages don't really have defined individuality yet. So maybe it's better for students to know how to blend in first before they find their "so-called individualities" starting with having identical uniforms.
