Perhaps equally as ubiquitous an image of Japan as that of a geisha, the idea of a high school girl wearing a school uniform is recognized the world over as a symbol uniquely Japanese.  Perhaps this is currently due to the wide dissemination of anime; especially in the shojo genre, nearly all the main characters are wearing sailor uniforms or some other kind of uniform:

For example, the image of the main heroine for an extremely popular anime, Inuyasha (犬夜叉).



And of course, who could forget Sailor Moon (セ一ラ一ム一ン）, who, it seems, never steps out of her sailor uniform!



Since I came to Japan I have seen many girls and boys wearing school uniforms.  But why is this such a common image?  Who wears school uniforms and why does it seem to be the only way to visualize a student of middle or high school age?

According to Brian McVeigh in his book Wearing Ideology, Japanese children have some sort of restriction or requirements on their dress, beginning in nursery school and moving all the way up to high school.  Introduced during the Meiji period, school uniforms became something to show unity and school spirit, or, during war times, "uniforms were associated with being 'frugal and courageous'". (McVeigh, 47)

These mandatory uniforms often attract much criticism, as it is said that they "may violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child since they suppress an individual's right of self-expression." (McVeigh, 48)  However, the knowledge that children are uniformed from the first time they enter school until they leave high school certainly explains why it is such a common image; all their formative years are spent wearing a school uniform!

Japanese school uniforms are highly stratified.  Often, the color will change when a student moves up a grade.  And of course, boys and girls wear different uniforms, the most common for boys being a high collared jacket (based on European military dress) and for girls being some sort of sailor uniform or jacket/skirt combination.  Obviously, this causes some tension, and this tension is reflected in popular culture.  As an example, in the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena (少女革命ウテナ) the main character decides to wear the uniform of a boy, instead of that of a girl.  She manages to pull this off because there was no regulation that a girl could not wear a boy's uniform, but the astounded attitude of the teachers illustrates that it simply had never been an issue before.

Whatever the reason, Japanese school uniforms seem to be rather an unchanging image, and certainly you can see them just by walking down the street.  When April rolls around and schools begin again, I'm sure that we'll see a lot more!

 

And the second picture, taken in Nara:



Images from Inuyasha and Sailor Moon were borrowed from Wikipedia.

Tags: anime, school uniforms
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