Building Schools Where Everyone Can Feel Safe and Secure from the Perspective of Human Rights Education ～ Efforts to Change School Uniforms at Public Junior High Schools in Kurashiki City

It has long been common for high schools to switch from traditional gakuran uniforms to blazers, but in recent years, public junior high schools have also entered a period of transition in their uniforms.

Until now, most junior high school uniforms in Kurashiki City consisted of “gakuran for boys (stand-up collars) and slacks” and “sailor-style uniforms for girls (or tops known as box-style uniforms) and skirts.” The gakuran design in particular had been used as a school uniform for nearly 50 years.

Uniform styles with clear gender distinctions, which were taken for granted at the time, have come to be recognized in modern times as something that can be difficult to wear for children struggling with gender dysphoria, and as lacking in comfort even for children who do not.

Even so, I assumed that changes to uniforms at Kurashiki City junior high schools were still a long way off. By chance, I had an opportunity to hear about a uniform change at Kurashiki Municipal Nishi Junior High School (hereafter, “Nishi Junior High School”), and learned that change was beginning. At Nishi Junior High School, starting in the 2023 school year, the top became a blazer of the same design for boys and girls, and girls could choose slacks as well as skirts.

I was surprised that uniform changes had already begun, and became interested in how they were progressing at junior high schools in Kurashiki City. So I went to speak with the Kurashiki City Board of Education’s Human Rights Education Promotion Office, which is responsible for supporting children and students who experience gender dysphoria.

Status of uniform changes at Kurashiki municipal junior high schools

Here is a summary of how uniform changes began at junior high schools in Kurashiki City and the current situation.

2015 was a turning point

Awareness of sexual minorities in schools began to grow after the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issued a notice in 2015 titled “On Providing Detailed Support for Students with Gender Identity Disorder.” The term LGBTQ also became more prominent in the media, and this was around the time people gained social rights, making it a turning point.

This prompted the Kurashiki City Board of Education to begin creating an environment where children could more easily seek help with their concerns, as well as developing learning programs about sexual diversity. Since some children were suffering because their parents lacked understanding, the board also created a leaflet for parents to promote understanding, “Diverse Sexualities: What We Want Parents to Know.” Consideration of uniform changes began as part of these efforts.

It began with the Kurashiki City Board of Education issuing guidelines for uniform choice

In the 2018 school year, a junior high school in Chiba Prefecture introduced a choice of skirts or slacks for girls’ uniforms. The move received extensive media coverage and attracted attention.

One junior high school in Kurashiki City had also introduced a choice system that same year. But as awareness of human rights grew throughout society and schools were being asked to take action, the Kurashiki City Board of Education thought that “issuing guidelines could make it easier for many schools to introduce uniform choices.”

In 2019, the Kurashiki City Board of Education therefore announced a policy promoting the introduction of a uniform choice system at all 26 municipal junior high schools, allowing female students to freely choose between skirts and slacks. This was the first initiative of its kind among Okayama Prefecture’s 15 cities and towns, and its aims included not only supporting students experiencing gender dysphoria, but also providing warmth, safety, ease of movement, and a way to express oneself.

Let’s apply the “choices” available in society to schools, too

The important thing is to introduce a system that allows students to choose—for example, not rejecting skirts for female students, but also allowing them to wear slacks. Unlike individual accommodations, which require students to disclose their needs, a choice system means that students do not have to explain their reasons for whatever they choose, and no one needs to ask.

The era when “girls’ uniforms meant skirts” lasted so long that some people may have been shocked to see female students wearing slacks, as if witnessing a major shift in the times.

However, women wearing pants (slacks) in society is nothing unusual. No one questions it; each person simply chooses freely according to their circumstances.

Women teachers wearing pants are also a common sight in schools. Since women wearing slacks is nothing new, the idea was reframed as applying to schools the “choice” that is already taken for granted in society.

As of the 2024 school year, 19 of Kurashiki City’s 26 schools have changed their uniforms

In addition to allowing female students to choose between skirts and slacks, schools are also moving toward blazers with the same design for boys and girls.

Among junior high schools in Kurashiki City, Toyo Junior High School introduced blazers in the 2020 school year, followed by Gounai Junior High School in 2021. By the 2024 school year, five years after the Kurashiki City Board of Education announced its policy promoting uniform choice, 19 of the city’s 26 schools had changed their uniforms. Some schools have also adopted culottes, in addition to skirts and slacks, for female students.

The story of uniform changes at Kurashiki Municipal Nishi Junior High School: “Enjoying the process little by little”

I interviewed Matsuo Shinji, Senior Advisor and Director of the Human Rights Education Promotion Office at the Kurashiki City Board of Education’s Human Rights Education Promotion Office, about the uniform changes at Nishi Junior High School, which first alerted me to the fact that uniform changes were underway at junior high schools. (Hereafter, “Mr. Matsuo.”)

Teacher Matsuo Shinji

Mr. Matsuo developed a learning program on sexual diversity known as the “Kurashiki Model,” compiled it as “Human Rights Education Practice Materials 3: Fostering Students Who Recognize Sexual Diversity II,” and received the Grand Prize in the Minister of Justice’s Awards for Human Rights Awareness Booklets in the 2018 school year.

His work has attracted attention nationwide. He is active in a wide range of ways, including giving lectures in and outside Kurashiki City and contributing to Sexual Minority Support Book (Kamogawa Publishing).

He joined Nishi Junior High School as vice principal in the 2021 school year and launched a project to introduce new uniforms. We asked him about the process leading up to the successful launch of the new uniforms in the 2023 school year.

Revising the uniforms for the first time in more than 50 years together with current students

How did the school come to consider changing its uniforms?

Matsuo (surname only)

In my first year at Nishi Junior High School, I set up a Uniform Review Committee. Before joining the school, while working at the Kurashiki City Board of Education, I had studied human rights issues related to LGBTQ people and school education, and had experienced these issues firsthand. I wanted to put what I had learned and experienced to good use in schools and make a meaningful contribution, rather than keeping it to myself.

First, we conducted a survey about changing the uniforms among parents, students, and teachers, as well as parents of fourth- and fifth-grade elementary school students. Parents were more positive about changing the uniforms than we had expected, so we moved ahead quickly.

Next, we needed to select a uniform manufacturer. Since this involved negotiating prices and other matters, the adults took responsibility for choosing the manufacturer, with teachers and parents leading the project.

From the 2022 school year, when the new academic year began, we shifted the focus to the student council executive committee and tried to leave enjoyable tasks such as design to the students as much as possible. We took care to ensure that the project did not feel irrelevant to them, even though they would not be the ones wearing the new uniforms.

“It’s amazing that you get to be part of revising the uniforms for the first time in more than 50 years. In the future, you’ll probably be happy when you see younger students around town wearing a uniform you helped design, so let’s work on it together.”

That is what we told them, and we made an effort to ensure that current students could take an active part.

Specifically, students on the student council executive committee led surveys and outreach efforts, building excitement around choosing the uniform design. I was particularly struck when the student council president said, “We won’t get to wear them, but let’s make uniforms that our younger students can be proud of.”

Enjoying the process of creating each item one by one

What did the process of “creating new uniforms” involve in practice?

Matsuo

We could have designed and displayed several options in advance and settled everything with a single vote, but at Nishi Junior High School we deliberately enjoyed making them little by little.

First, the blazer: navy or gray?

• Navy would give a calm, composed impression.
• How about trying gray, which no junior high school in the city has yet?

There were various opinions like these, but the vote decided on gray.

Next came the bottoms. We asked for about three designs that would go with the gray top, then held another vote. We also invited elementary school parents to take part, and during summer vacation, elementary school students voted as well while visiting Nishi Junior High School’s wooden school building.

Once the bottoms were decided, it was time for ties and ribbons. We had settled on a gray blazer and navy-based checked bottoms, so we asked for about four burgundy options that would blend with the colors of the wooden school building…

We gradually put the items together like that, and finally chose an emblem designed by the students. I think the process allowed many students to take part and enjoy themselves.

Adopting navy polo shirts, unusual among junior high schools in Kurashiki City

How did current students respond to the new uniforms?

Matsuo

When the new uniforms were announced, current students said, “We want to wear them too,” and “But they cost money, so we can’t ask our parents to buy them.”

It would be a shame if current students couldn’t wear the uniforms after working so hard to create something good. Many students said they wanted to experience the new uniforms, even in a small way: “I want to wear the new navy polo shirt to a high school open day,” and “Can I wear just the ribbon with my shirt?”

So we discussed it with the teacher in charge of student guidance and made arrangements to accommodate the different ways students wanted to enjoy them.

Why did you introduce navy polo shirts, which are unusual at junior high schools?

Matsuo

We had heard for some time that white shirts were see-through and showed dirt easily, making them difficult for parents to wash. So we decided to create navy polo shirts that would solve all these problems at once.

Navy hides dirt and isn’t see-through, reducing stress in several ways. We also have white button-down shirts and polo shirts, made with fabric that prevents them from being see-through.

Students had previously been required to wear white socks, but they also suggested that “now that the uniforms have been refined, black or navy socks might look better.”

So we set up a student-led “School Rules Review Committee in Connection with the Uniform Change” and also considered revising the rules for shoes, not just socks. As a result, socks could be white, black, or navy instead of white only, and shoes could be any color as long as they were suitable for exercise.

By taking a fresh look at things we had assumed were simply the way they had to be, we developed the ability to set our own rules.

Learning about “clothing culture” through uniform changes

Have you discovered anything new through the uniform-change project?

Matsuo

Changing uniforms is a lot of fun. Even the silhouette of a blazer has a reason behind it. We learned from the uniform manufacturer and discussed together which one to choose.

What I found especially interesting was how the jacket fastens.

“Why do men’s jackets fasten left over right, while women’s fasten right over left?”

Since Western-style clothing came from the West, apparently this is a remnant of the days when upper-class women had their clothes fastened by attendants, so the buttons were on the opposite side from the wearer’s dominant hand.

However, the jackets on modern unisex clothing are designed for men, yet women probably wear them without feeling uncomfortable. Thinking along those lines, you could argue that, for practical reasons, the wearer’s dominant hand should take priority. I think adults should know the general conventions of Western dress as a matter of etiquette, but when comfort is considered, it cannot be called wrong.

A single uniform has so much to teach us about materials, silhouettes, and the depth of how clothes are worn. I felt it could also be used as a teaching resource.

More schools are adopting blazers with the same design for all genders, where the jacket can be fastened either way (the buttons can be moved to either side). This also makes it possible for siblings of different genders to pass uniforms down to one another, which I think is economically beneficial.

Changing uniforms is a chance to question what is “normal” and see what really matters

Have you heard any reactions from students who are actually wearing the new uniforms?

Matsuo

This was when I was working at the Board of Education. After the uniforms were renewed, we heard from children in the city who had been struggling with gender dysphoria, saying, “I’m happy to have a blazer instead of a gakuran” and “Wearing a uniform no longer feels like a burden.” I’m sure there are students at Nishi Junior High who feel the same way.

I feel encouraged to see that, even if it hasn’t solved everything, the change has given children who had found wearing a uniform difficult at least one reason to feel brighter and more positive.

The change began as a response to gender dysphoria, but as we worked on it, I came to see its broader significance. Changing uniforms that had previously been taken for granted created an opportunity to reconsider the nature of education, the perspective of universal design, school rules, and the school as a whole.

The ultimate goal of changing uniforms is to contribute to the peace of mind and safety of as many students as possible. I’ve come to realize that changing uniforms is not simply about changing the clothes—it’s about “changing the school by changing its uniforms.”

Comfortable uniforms can foster a sense of security and pride

We’ve mainly discussed initiatives at junior high schools. What are public elementary schools in Kurashiki City doing?

Matsuo

Kurashiki City is unusual in that all its public elementary schools have uniforms. This may be partly because Kurashiki is a city of textiles and uniforms, having prospered through its spinning industry. Even in the elementary schools of Kurashiki City, with its long history of uniforms, more schools are changing or reviewing their uniforms to suit the times.

Finally, how do you view “uniforms themselves” now?

Matsuo

There’s only one six-year period of junior and senior high school in a person’s life. That’s why I think school life and uniforms, which you experience only once, become part of irreplaceable memories. In addition to being economical, they may also foster a sense of security and pride through a sense of belonging.

Adults sometimes put on a sharp suit to get into the right frame of mind when they have an important job to do. Wearing a uniform can help children prepare themselves mentally to “go to school,” too. I think there can also be occasions when they change their clothes to suit the etiquette of a particular situation.

That said, we should think much more about what uniforms should be like. It would be even better if they were more comfortable and contributed to peace of mind and safety. Since they’re worn every day, I think we’re in a transitional period, moving toward a time when uniforms can also be items that let students pursue style and self-expression.

After the interview

At first, I thought this would be “a discussion about uniforms for children who are LGBTQ, including those experiencing gender dysphoria.” But by the time I finished listening, I realized it was “a discussion about creating comfortable uniforms suited to the times.” It’s true that “comfortable uniforms” are something all students would welcome, not just those who are LGBTQ.

However, it also seems that this perspective might not have emerged as readily without addressing gender dysphoria. Ultimately, I felt that responding to gender dysphoria had a major impact in helping the school become something new.

Over the past decade, the growing attention to diversity throughout society may be an inevitable trend, as we adapt to a new era and work toward a future in which people can live better lives.

New uniforms for Kurashiki Municipal Nishi Junior High School on display

The new uniforms for Nishi Junior High School are on display on the first floor (just to the left after entering the entrance) of Kurashiki Central Library from Saturday, June 1, to Sunday, June 30, 2024 (closed on Mondays).

Explaining why the library is hosting the exhibition, Kajita Takayo, director of Kurashiki Central Library, told us, “We hope the library will serve not only as a place to borrow books, but also as a place for sharing local information, giving people who haven’t been interested before an opportunity to learn about it.”

Alongside the new uniforms, the library is also displaying many books about the history of uniforms and gender-related topics. They have been carefully selected to make it easy for anyone interested in learning about these subjects to find something to read. Why not visit while you have the chance?

new uniform exhibition at Kurashiki Municipal Nishi Junior High School Information

Name	New uniform exhibition at Kurashiki Municipal Nishi Junior High School
Date	Saturday, June 1, to Sunday, June 30, 2024 *Closed on Mondays. Tuesday–Saturday: 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Sundays and public holidays: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. *For details, see the opening-day calendar on the website.
Location	Kurashiki Central Library (2-6-1 Chuo, Kurashiki City)
Website	Kurashiki Central Library

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