School sued over 'hair bullying'
A high school student is suing Osaka Prefecture for mental anguish over repeated insistence that she dye her naturally brown hair black in order to conform with her school's dress code. In junior high, she was forced to continuously dye her hair black. So, when it came time to enter high school, the plaintiff's mother tried to make arrangements with her new school. Some Tokyo schools are said to have a similar system wherein students can get a Natural Hair Colour Certificate to confirm that they aren't dying. However, after classes began at the new school, the plaintiff began getting warnings from teachers who were enforcing the school's no-dye/no-bleach policy. In the past, the repeated dye jobs the plaintiff's hair had become brittle and a rash developed on her scalp. She was also prohibited from taking part in school festivals and field trips until she conformed and dyed her hair. During one "warning" a teacher asked, "Is it because you have a single mother, that you always change your hair colour to brown?" Finally the warnings became an ultimatum: She had to dye her hair or leave. She is suing the Osaka Prefectural government for ¥2.2 million ($28,000) in damages for what her lawyers say amounts to systematic and institutionalised "bullying".
News Nostalgia from 1953
"Teenagers have forgotten the goldfish-swallowing fad which swept the US a few years back, but they've started another one which is giving restaurant owners a headache. The new fad requires some drinking straws, chocolate syrup and a bit of wind power. A restaurant ceiling can be easily 'redecorated' by dipping the straw's tissue casing into syrup and shooting it like a blowgun up into the air."
