I’ve been asked why there are so many Japanese students out and about in their school uniforms (even on weekends or at places like Disneyland) so often that I have decided to write out my response here.
1. School and school clubs can continue on into the weekend
When I was attending high school in Japan, we had school every second Saturday. Classes ran until lunchtime and then school clubs ( similar to after school activities in Australia) would rehearse or train afterwards. Bukatsu (school clubs – ie. extra curricular activities) can run late into the evening and practice can roll over into weekend times.
2. School field trips are a big deal in Japan
This is particularly the case for older students before their exams begin (most common time is in April.)
Many students from the country towns will travel to a major city with their teachers.
Students in Japan, as you may know, are given a lot more freedom than many western countries so it would not be usual for Junior High or High School students to be left to wander for a few hours to return to a certain spot at a particular time. Uniforms are one way to easily track students and identify which “group” they belong to.
I remember there was a big assembly at my girl’s school one day as two students had been caught shoplifting after school in their uniforms. The shopkeepers contacted their school before their parents and then the parents were to apologize to the Head Teacher.
3. Many students actually love their uniforms
This was hard for me to get my brain around when I first moved from Australia. Man, in Australia we couldn’t WAIT to peel off our uniforms after school.
But in Japan the uniforms take the pressure out of having the most stylish clothing, they show that you are part of a group, they are already styled and ready to go, uniforms are cute ( and, unfortunately, often sexualized in manga/anime culture) so they hold quite a bit of status.
While an exchange student, I caught up with many girlfriends on the weekend in school uniforms.
It took me a while to get my head around… but it made more sense when I got to University and learned about Individualist vs Collectivist cultures.
See here if you would like to read more about my time as an exchange student in high school.
Read here if you would like to know where in the year Japanese school holidays fall.
