2025.08.15FRI
Relay Column: Wearing a School Uniform at a School with No Dress Code (Haruka Okubo)
PROFILE
Haruka Okubo
Kyoto University Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, doctoral course. Specializing in sociology of education. Currently conducting qualitative research on the transition processes of women via part-time and correspondence high schools.
I want to attend a correspondence high school because I lack confidence in going to school every day. But I still want to go to a school with uniforms.
――Do you want to wear a uniform?
Because I want to be a high school girl. I want to be a "JK" (not to be confused with the English slang, this Japanese slang refers to a high school girl, from "女子高生" = "Joshi-Kosei").
When I received the relay column, I thought vaguely about using "uniform" as a theme. At that moment, I suddenly remembered a conversation with a middle school student.
Thinking about her words, there seems to be a connection between "becoming a high school girl" and "wearing a uniform." In interviews with graduates of part-time and correspondence high schools (with no dress code), I often hear episodes of wearing "pseudo-uniforms."
Certainly, even though I was in a public full-time school and it was a casual dress school, I used to think, "I don't seem like a high school girl" when I saw other high school students. Looking back, when we all made costumes imitating AKB48's outfits (maybe just an excuse) for the culture festival and wore them together, it was so lively (especially among the boys).
After all, wearing a uniform might be like a "costume play of an admired high school girl"...
As I pondered this, I visited a correspondence support school, as usual. Among students in casual clothing, I happened to see a pair of students in uniforms and honestly felt they looked cute. However, I also wondered why they went out of their way to purchase the school uniform, which was optional(1). So, I decided to talk to them right away (2).
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