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Japanese junior high school girl removed from class for three days for grooming her eyebrows

80 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

Japanese schools tend to be very particular about student conduct and appearance. In recent years, we’ve seen a gradual loosening of some of the stricter rules, but that doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared entirely, as shown by what happened at a school in Fukuoka Prefecture.

In April, a public junior high school in the Fukuoka town of Kurume was conducting a check to see if students were complying with the school’s rules regarding hairstyling and dying. But while the hairs on the head of one third-year student passed inspection, the school had a problem with her eyebrow hairs, or, more specifically, the eyebrow hairs she no longer had.

The school’s rules prohibit the students from cutting or shaving their eyebrows. However, the 14-year-old girl had been removing hairs at the edges of her eyebrows to give them a more groomed appearance. The school ruled this to be an infraction. She was punished with three days of besshitu toko, “separate-room schooling,” a form of disciplining in Japanese schools where students who have broken a rule must do their day’s schoolwork in a separate room, away from the rest of the class, essentially a form of in-school suspension. She was also made to write an essay reflecting on her transgression.

Miki Hata, Kurume’s 55-year-old director of education, was asked about the incident, and she said “I believe the school may be worried that, being at a developmental age, children may become distracted by overly focusing on their eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.” But while it’s easy to see how, say, teachers might think hair dyed bright pink or spiked into a mohawk could be “distracting,” what sort of problems could they see arising from students’ eyebrows?

There are two likely explanations. The first is that the school may see styled eyebrows as being effectively the same as using makeup, something most schools in Japan have rules against under the philosophy that students should be spending their energy on learning, not trying to look good. The second is that shaved eyebrows have an association with juvenile delinquents and street gangs in Japan, thought it’s a bit of an old-school look and usually involves completely, or almost completely, shaving off the eyebrows.

On the other hand, though, Japanese etiquette stresses the importance of a neatly groomed appearance when going out in public, and excessive hair on the face or body is often considered to look unkempt.

The major point of contention seems to be between at what point removing errant or excessive hairs goes from “grooming” your eyebrows to “cutting” them. 61-year-old Kurume city councilwoman Mutsumi Kaneko, though, feels that the school went too far in punishing the girl. With the incident getting national attention in Japan this week, Kaneko said “How is it wrong for he to groom her eyebrows? By not letting her study in her regular class, and making her study in a separate room, did they think that was going to make her eyebrow hairs grow back? This school’s eyebrow rule is outside the bounds of logic.” Perhaps her words will spur the school to reexamine its policy.

Sources: Abema Times via Livedoor NewsTele Asa NewsKurume City

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Public schools in Japan’s Saga Prefecture will no longer regulate/check students’ underwear color

-- New Japanese office furniture, lockers to stand and sleep in, baffles, depresses the Internet

-- All Tokyo public high schools abolish rules forcing students to dye non-black hair, underwear color regs

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

80 Comments
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Social ineptitude gone wild.

100% behind the young lady!

4 ( +34 / -30 )

JT Editors: May I offer a suggested correction to what I am sure was an inadvertent typo?

Swap the words 'for' and 'from' in the headline.

Moderator: Thank you. It has been fixed.

13 ( +17 / -4 )

Its a slippery slope... one day plucking an eyebrow the next injecting heroin behind the bike sheds. Thank God the school has saved her from this life just in time.

Or just maybe, they over-reacted a little?

32 ( +45 / -13 )

lock her up! throw away the key! oOor.... make your lessons interesting and relevant....

10 ( +21 / -11 )

Stupidity abounds in the education system, how about actually being educators rather than eyebrow inspector’s.

16 ( +30 / -14 )

SAD. it really is.

6 ( +15 / -9 )

"The nail that stands up must be hammered down!"

I went into battle with the high school my daughter attended. The school had a strict no dyed hair policy. However, my daughter's hair was brown. The school insisted she dye it black. I had a meeting with the principal about it and told him his rules were no dyed hair, but he is telling to dye my daughter's hair. After over an hour of arguing with this butt head he changed the school rules to state that the students' hair must be black. She was a straight A student in the top 5% of the school. This wombat wanted to use her as a poster child for his school. That's why he persisted in her dying her hair black.

The totalitarian discipline of Japanese schools serves no purpose other than making the teachers 'feel' like they are in control by intimidating and bullying the students. I worked in over 25 differnet Jr/Sr high schools both public and private and can tell you for a fact that the schools with less strict totalitarian discipline had much greater academic success with the students. Although, some of the public high schools are just a zoo run by teachers frightened of monster parents and pass all students on bonus points.

"Children should be taught how to think, not what to think!"

27 ( +48 / -21 )

@Disillusioned

Feel your pain, chap.

Can't stand all the rules schools demand from kids here.

Then, when I meet said kids as 18/19 year olds in a university classroom, I'm unsurprised by how socially inept alot of them are. Completely the fault of schools and socially inept parents who don't fight the awful system.

6 ( +32 / -26 )

Well it's not the student "overly focusing on eyebrows " is it ...you knuckleheads !!!!!!!!!!!

17 ( +22 / -5 )

There are two likely explanations. The first is that the school may see styled eyebrows as being effectively the same as using makeup, something most schools in Japan have rules against under the philosophy that students should be spending their energy on learning, not trying to look good.

I agree with Japan's learning philosophy, but let these kids style themselves up. It's not like dressing yourself up is new in this age, adolescents have been doing this probably since the olden times, come on and cut these people some slack. And what's more, if these kids feel good about themselves, then they're in a better mental state to learn. If that's the case, then they should require all boys to either never get a haircut or just have all of them have shaved heads since looks take a back seat in learning. This view is very archaic, student life is not monastic life.

The second is that shaved eyebrows have an association with juvenile delinquents and street gangs in Japan, thought it’s a bit of an old-school look and usually involves completely, or almost completely, shaving off the eyebrows.

I get this, a guy with blonde hair, gaudy clothes and wears heavy cologne is likely a chimpira and someone who dresses as plain as white rice is your average Tanaka and is most likely a decent person. Stereotypes exist for a reason, but this is just unfair and just downright discriminatory. I've dealt with flashy looking people that are actually more polite and decent than those that just blend in. I get that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, but come on. I can say all of this with authority as I came from a private catholic learning institution from preschool until college, where we can't even wear a g-shock watch because it's too flashy.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

Better to be expelled than walk around with a mono brow.. /:)

-9 ( +9 / -18 )

Miki Hata, Kurume’s 55-year-old director of education, was asked about the incident, and she said “I believe the school may be worried that, being at a developmental age, children may become distracted by overly focusing on their eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.”

Seems to me that its the school that is distracted by overly focusing on the students' eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.

3 ( +21 / -18 )

This rule explains why Ayako Imoto's character is so realistic.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Lashed out

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

So many questions, so little time...

1/ What's the school policy on nasal hair removal?

2/Does the student have to replace the lost eyebrow hairs ?

3/Will her punishment essay reference Kafka ?

I see three outcomes moving forward

1/ Student becomes a recluse

2/ Student opens "eye brow " salon opposite school.

3/ Becomes a human rights lawyer at the Hague.

10 ( +21 / -11 )

"The nail that stands up must be hammered down!"

I went into battle with the high school my daughter attended. The school had a strict no dyed hair policy. However, my daughter's hair was brown. The school insisted she dye it black. I had a meeting with the principal about it and told him his rules were no dyed hair, but he is telling to dye my daughter's hair. After over an hour of arguing with this butt head he changed the school rules to state that the students' hair must be black. She was a straight A student in the top 5% of the school. This wombat wanted to use her as a poster child for his school. That's why he persisted in her dying her hair black.

The totalitarian discipline of Japanese schools serves no purpose other than making the teachers 'feel' like they are in control by intimidating and bullying the students. I worked in over 25 differnet Jr/Sr high schools both public and private and can tell you for a fact that the schools with less strict totalitarian discipline had much greater academic success with the students. Although, some of the public high schools are just a zoo run by teachers frightened of monster parents and pass all students on bonus points.

"Children should be taught how to think, not what to think!"

I think I remember your post from last year. The reason I remembered this was because my oldest daughter's hair was not jet black, even though my wife is Japanese and I am Mexican American. Yes, at first, there were concerns about her hair color, since my wife's is jet black. She and the Administrators went back and forth with this nonsense for about an hour. Finally, I get an email from my wife to have me come to my daughter's school and meet with them. I went in and asked what the problem was. After meeting me and me telling them that most of my daughter's pnysical traits were from my side of the family (I even showed them my family in the US), the Administrators dropped their argument and apologized to my wife and we. I was okay with it, but my wife was furious for the Administrators wasting our time.

20 ( +29 / -9 )

what a lot of absolute garbage! Imagine being so nazi about a person's eyebrows. These stupid rules infuriate me. And teachers will all be buzzing with the gossip of such a transgression.....garbage

17 ( +24 / -7 )

 regarding hairstyling and dying. 

There’s a difference between dying and dyeing that Mr Baseel should look up before dying.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Ah, this takes me back to the days when I worked at both Buddhist and later Catholic girls' high schools. The religions were nothing other than cosmetic mind you. (Excuse the attempt at humour.) I remember one young lady at the former school being hauled into the office for coming to school with coloured hair and watching in amazement as a male staffer forced her to bend over a sink while he sprained on black hair colouring. In latter the school, a compromise was met in that it was agreed that the young lady would leave the school permanently, hair intact. More recently, both my bicultural kids had to file paperwork that proved their hair colour was naturally not jet black. I offered to show up and show them why but my wife just gave me the look.

12 ( +17 / -5 )

The only thing that this taught the student is that schools are run by idiots.

17 ( +24 / -7 )

We should probably not pass judgment until we see a picture of what she had done to her eyebrows.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

61-year-old Kurume city councilwoman Mutsumi Kaneko, though, feels that the school went too far in punishing the girl. With the incident getting national attention in Japan this week, Kaneko said “How is it wrong for he to groom her eyebrows? By not letting her study in her regular class, and making her study in a separate room, did they think that was going to make her eyebrow hairs grow back? This school’s eyebrow rule is outside the bounds of logic.”

It's nice to see that not all JP politicians are dinosaurs. Maybe if there were more female politicians here, especially at the national level, they would be such a pig-headed, backwards group of neanderthals.

5 ( +12 / -7 )

*wouldn't be...

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

 The second is that shaved eyebrows have an association with juvenile delinquents and street gangs in Japan, thought it’s a bit of an old-school look and usually involves completely, or almost completely, shaving off the eyebrows.

I’ve seen the male students that do this, as has everyone else.

It just makes them look completely ridiculous, nothing else.

I say if they wanna look foolish, let em. But that’s what being a teenager is supposed to be about. Acting a fool and looking ridiculous. It builds character and humility. But most importantly helps them find themselves and express their ideas.

But then again, it’s Japan and their endless outdated rules.

No wonder so many youths can’t even answer “what’s your favorite color” without thinking and contemplating about it for at least 2 minutes.

-10 ( +9 / -19 )

I take it to court. I been shaving my head and brow since I start my apprenticeship. Why brows ? Save from getting hair in eyes. I see it purely as hygiene/safety not fashion which they are making it out to be.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

A uniquely Japanese problem.

Keep hammering down those nails!

-6 ( +15 / -21 )

"We see such grooming as a distraction from one's studies. Now hurry along kids! No, no classes again today as we are preparing for Sports Say for the next two weeks! Ladies, throw on your 'bloomers' and head to the gym!"

-7 ( +13 / -20 )

"She was punished with three days of besshitu toko, “separate-room schooling,” a form of disciplining in Japanese schools where students who have broken a rule must do their day’s schoolwork in a separate room, away from the rest of the class, essentially a form of in-school suspension. She was also made to write an essay reflecting on her transgression."

Call it what it actually is: school-sanctioned humiliation.

9 ( +17 / -8 )

I get this, a guy with blonde hair, gaudy clothes and wears heavy cologne is likely a chimpira and someone who dresses as plain as white rice is your average Tanaka and is most likely a decent person.

The average Tanaka looking person crafted a gun and used it against a former PM so I guess don't judge a book by it's cover.

12 ( +19 / -7 )

“I believe the school may be worried that, being at a developmental age, children may become distracted by overly focusing on their eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.”

What is considered "essential" differs for many people. Who are you to claim what is and isn't essential for a person? If she wants to take care of her appearance, so be it. It must be an essential aspect of her lifestyle. 人の価値観は人それぞれ。

3 ( +7 / -4 )

From pictures of Japan's long gone ruling classes, women had a black dots instead of eyebrows painted half way up the forehead and their teeth were painted black. I wonder what would that school say if she turned up to school looking like that?

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Power harassment, moral harassment, infringement of human rights and freedom of expression, that's what it is!!! Sue them for everything they got, I say!!!

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Just another example of the Japanese education system intent on producing robots. Everything black and white, no flexibility. God forgive if a school allows freedom of expression both in thought and action.

-1 ( +9 / -10 )

We used to get a 3-day in-school suspension for busting some kid's lip open or ripping cigarettes in the bathroom. Can't say we ever got busted for shaving our eyebrows (though I believe some diehard Vanilla Ice fans did just that).

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I don't think eyebrow grooming should be prohibited. At the same time it shouldn't be a national debate either. Let the school, parents and students figure it out.

With problems such as 1/6th of the country living below the poverty line there are much bigger issues to focus on.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Was the student aware of the rule? If so, there is no issue here. If she was not, then there is. We, the readers, cannot judge because we do not have all of the pertinent information.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Just another example of the Japanese education system intent on producing robots. Everything black and white, no flexibility. God forgive if a school allows freedom of expression both in thought and action.

the ministry of education after the war was staffed by former thought police and Japan's version of the Gestapo, so is anyone really surprised by this?

-15 ( +3 / -18 )

This type of punishment is ridiculous and should be abolished.

It's negatively impacted her education and social esteem.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Neglect essential aspects of their education

So...removing her from class for 3 days isn't neglecting her essential aspect of education?

How hypocritical !

-2 ( +11 / -13 )

No wonder kids hate school in Japan!

-7 ( +8 / -15 )

Eyebrows UP. Hup two.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Total nonsense! Those making these decisions need to grow up and work on actual issues rather than trying to stifle personal grooming choices. Their focus is on the wrong thing. Children should be allowed to enjoy childhood as it is the most free they will ever be, and the memories of happiness need to last a lifetime. A head shaking disgrace by the education system that makes these calls.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The Japanese school system is like communism. The teachers are the military and the students have to abide by the rules or be sent to a concentration camp.

-5 ( +8 / -13 )

I am surely not against strict school rules and to keep discipline in the class room. However this is ridiculous, by far over the top.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

It is time for the local governments to think outside the box.

In Japan??

Pigs will fly and learn to recite Haiku and do Karaoke before that happens.

-6 ( +7 / -13 )

When I was in 5th grade, someone got suspended for pointing his finger and saying “bang” because the school had a zero tolerance policy on guns.

So it’s not just Japan with stupid school regulations.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Talk about overreacting. As if her plucking and shaping her eyebrows is going to have an impact on her academic career and future. These Japanese schools need to reevaluate their brains. Not everyone wants to be a robotic sheep; some actually like their individuality.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

It time for the school system to grow up and start treating children with more respect.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

The school ruled this to be an infraction. She was punished with three days of besshitu toko, “separate-room schooling,” a form of disciplining in Japanese schools where students who have broken a rule must do their day’s schoolwork in a separate room, away from the rest of the class

And still wonder where this bullying thing comes from? It's ingrained in their own culture.

Dare to stand out? Excluded and ignored now!

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

We should probably not pass judgment until we see a picture of what she had done to her eyebrows.

https://img.news.goo.ne.jp/image_proxy/compress/q_80/picture/abematimes/m_abematimes-10031449.jpg

end of the world! I saw the article in japanese a few days ago.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

John-San

I take it to court. I been shaving my head and brow since I start my apprenticeship. Why brows ? Save from getting hair in eyes. I see it purely as hygiene/safety not fashion which they are making it out to be.

When you mention 'brows', did you mean 'eyebrows'? I'm interested, because how long do your brows have to be before they start getting into your eyes & if you do shave them, what's it like when sweat runs down (where your eye brows used to be) into your eyes? Surely that's a hygiene problem as well?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The school’s rules prohibit the students from cutting or shaving their eyebrows. However, the 14-year-old girl had been removing hairs at the edges of her eyebrows to give them a more groomed appearance. The school ruled this to be an infraction. 

Totally ridiculous. On the other hand, we should be blessed to live in a country where there are so few serious problems that a school has time to care about such nonsense.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Ridiculous power tripping … it’s eyebrows …

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This is how totalitarianism starts. It is not a boot in the face. It is a girl's eyebrows in need of trimming. Suddenly this innocent act becomes a quasi-crime. The punisher, the teacher, is an old hand at being a totalitarian. He or she looks forward to being a principal who is a supreme totalitarian.

By the time young people enter university it is not too late to deprogram them.

One of my students wanted me to like her blue hair.

I said, "You blue hair is really cool."

"Oh thank you!" she exclaimed.

This is the difference between freedom and totalitarianism.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Every attempt to develop your own personality will be nipped in the bud.

Office drones who blindly follow the rules are easier to control.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Guys talking about the rules make me tired honestly... Did the student know the rule? What was it exactly? We should see her picture first to judge...

Point is, there should be no such rule in a first place. Schools are to teach kids to learn and solve problems and not to tell them how to look. I went through blonde through red to black hair color in my HS years and finished my education gradating from the top university. What's on your head is really not that relevant. What is in it - yes.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

This explains why most Japanese students when they go abroad they act like they are 14 years old. They are so far behind and can't think for themselves because they are so use to being told what to do and what not to do. Now I can understand why they don't express themselves. For example if you propose something to them and you want their opinion you ask them "what do you think"? Their response is "what do you think"? The problem arises when you do what you think they don't say anything but get pissed off after you asked for their opinion. They just won't say!!! Ahhhhhhhh

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Teachers have nothing better to do.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I wonder how it would be in that school had I or my son been students there.

I could grow a full beard by 14 and I mean a full beard from the top of my cheeks just below my eyes to the just above my Adam's apple.

I shaved when I felt like it in highschool no one said a thing.

My son could grow a full mustache by 14 and a full beard by 16 in Japanese public school.

Sometimes he shaved other times he didn't.

No one ever said a word, but I imagine calling me up to complain about him not shaving would have been awkward for the school as I have a full beard and hate shaving.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Farmboy

July 19 11:37 pm JST

I'd love to see someone going to their first job, and trimming eyebrows while in a business meeting. Before they fire you, they will probably wonder why you didn't learn anything about the inappropriateness of that in junior high.

What are you going on about?

The girl wants trimming her eyebrows in school or in class, she did it at home!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I'd love to see someone going to their first job, and trimming eyebrows while in a business meeting. Before they fire you, they will probably wonder why you didn't learn anything about the inappropriateness of that in junior high.

I was chronically late for school. All the time. They told me 'if you do this with a job, you'll get fired'. So I make sure I'm on time for work.

School and work aren't the same.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

... children may become distracted by overly focusing on their eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.

As a Canadian student and later a teacher for many decades, I always took great care with my appearance. Why? I enjoyed it. It allowed me creative expression. It gave me confidence. It enabled me to better connect with others whether my students, colleagues or superiors. It was never a hinderance to my education or my ability to offer quality instruction to my students.

The fact is, frumpy people are often dismissed and considered irrelevant. That's how the brain reacts in less than 4 seconds. But stylish and edgy people spark an interest from others.

I never judged my students based on their outré appearance and a good number of them confided that I was the only person to accept them. But more important than that, by accepting and respecting them, they were more inclined to give a subject in which they had no interest a chance. Piercings, tattoos, hair colour and expression through fashion choices were irrelevant. Some went on to excel in spite of their initial resistance and apathy.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's time to remove these dumb rules and the old fossils that come up with them!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Guess she should just stop bathing too. God forbid she loses focus on school to wash the dirt off.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Miki Hata, Kurume’s 55-year-old director of education, was asked about the incident, and she said “I believe the school may be worried that, being at a developmental age, children may become distracted by overly focusing on their eyebrows and hairstyles, and neglect essential aspects of their education and lifestyles.”

This Jurassic mindset couldn't be further from the truth....

My eldest (teen) daughter, like teen girls from other countries, enjoys using make up, trying different hairstyles and grooming her eyebrows. She enjoys doing this, as she feels that she can express her own individuality and it makes her happy.

And guess what?

Her school attendance is perfect, she continuously gets above 90% in her tests, she's polite & well behaved and she enjoys a varied number of sporting activities and cultural activities.

As her parent, I have given her the opportunity to express herself and she is thriving in both her studies and chosen interests.

This is how the education system should be nurturing the next generation. Not these very outdated philosophies that are only making children into the next generation of mindless and emotionless drones that can't think for themselves.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@KariHaruka - way too much common sense in your post - wink!

My wife and I allowed similar "freedoms" (eyebrow grooming is freedom???) to our daughters.

And now they're suffering from good career choices and all of the wonderful friends they have.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

This is not about eyebrows, it is about control and control freaks.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

@Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne Today  12:28 pm JST

Don't nitpick - we all understand when a person says "most X", he is at most expressing a belief that "most X" have a property on the basis of the ones that he did meet. It can get worse from here.

@KariHaruka Today  07:10 am JST

Your kid clearly has a lot of bandwidth. But what if your kid is just barely passing her studies? You would not at least consider limiting her other activities?

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

@ Strangerland

And kids leaving school here soon find out that work is very different

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Only in Japan!

that’s ridiculous!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

What if her eyebrows look really ugly

Wouldn't that distract the other students

And then she'd have to do it when she's hired for employment (her employers would force her)

So her school forcing her one way, while her employers forcing her another way

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What is it about conformity in Japanese society? I don’t understand it, and find it oppressive. If a student wears their hair differently, or grooms their eyebrows so what? Does everyone need to look like each other? Let people be individuals and be accepting of individuality.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

What is it about conformity in Japanese society?

Asian cultures were traditionally agricultural, whereas western ones were generally hunter-gatherer style. When you are a hunter gatherer, individualism and small groups are the priority. When you are agricultural, working together with your community to build systems to get water to your crops is more important.

As society started to develop more law, western societies moved to debate and discourse (Aristotle, Plato etc), born of the individualism of being hunter gatherers. Asian societies on the other hand developed law that was more group oriented, born of the group aspect of agriculture (Confucianism).

Group societies have a vested interest in the survival of the group over an individual, as all individuals depend upon the group. In such a situation, conformity is more important than individualism, as one person's personal suffrage is less important than group suffrage, due to this priority of survival of the group.

That's what's about conformity in Japanese society.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

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