It is the Japanese schoolgirl. (Bear with me, we are going somewhere with this, I am not weird!)
Now, Japanese women are beautiful. Japanese schoolgirls are cute. And with many of them, you know they are also going to grow up and also be heartbreakingly beautiful as well. What is disconcerting for those of us who live here, and actually TEACH these litle angels, is how amazingly SHORT the skirts end up.
It is odd.
Not only that, But guess which area has the shortest skirts?
Tokyo? No.
Osaka? They are crazy, and out there! No.
Hokkaido? Are you kidding?! Too cold!
Okinawa? Weather is hot enough... But no.
The answer is...
Drum roll...
Niigata! My home prefecture! There was a TV programme that investigated this issue, and declared Niigata to have the shortes skirts!
(These are stills from the TV programme, not me!)
In Japan, the regulation, is that the skirt rides no higher than just above the knee. In Tokyo, the average is 16.7cm over the knee. In Niigata, its over 20cm! That pretty much makes the skirt so flippin short that its hidden when they put on a Jacket, or sweater!
This does of course, lead to all sorts of problems. Dirty men learing at them, making solo travellers deeply uncomfortable. Some men try to take advantage and attempt to "cop a feel" on the crowded subways/public transport. So, lots of social problems. There are also plenty of REAL issues as well.
Not only that, but they make guys like me uncomfortable. I appreciate a beautiful woman like any man (Heck, Yuko is fantastic!), however, these are all under the age of 18. They are going to be amazingly beautiful, they have good legs. But I do not want to see their underwear! Does not really float my boat. So, riding escalators when a group of girls gets on is out of the question until they have finished!
In Tokyo, a short skirt is great in the summer, and during winter, not a major issue as Tokyo never gets too cold.
However, in Niigata, we get amazing quantities of snow (nearly as much as Hokkaido) and the temperature as either at, or below freezing. With that much flesh unveiled, then yes, the cold is a real health issue. It is common to see girls going to school and taking a blanket with her as the school is too cold.
So, Niigata has decided to do something about it. There are regular uniform inspections, but as the next demonstration shows, it is woefully inadequate.
The uniform check is announced, and worked out with the parents. So, all the girls do is simply unroll the skirt. Once the check is finished, roll the thing back up again. Also, the schools dont help themselves, because during winter, when the school is cold, rather than compelling the girls to lengthen their skirts, they allow then to keep the skirts at that length, but wear their gym shorts underneath, or even their tracksuit pants. But the skirt remains the same!
Another option under way is a big poster campaign to convince girls to cover up. Except, wierdly, the girl on the poster has a skirt as short as the girls she is trying to convince not to!
How successful this campaign will be, time will tell. I dont hold out much hope. The motivation for change is not something that the government has actually tackled with the poster campaign.
There was an interview with one of these girls who opts for wearing the "belt." She was quite enlightening. They asked a simple question. Why? There are many reasons for NOT wearing a short skirt, such as leery old men, gropers, and the weather. To which the girl agreed. Possibly having a man stick his hand down your underwear is a worry, she said, and in winter, it was bad with having cold legs. Having men stare was not such an issue she said. She believed she had good legs!
The interviewer asked with all these problems, why the shortness of the skirt? To which she replied, "Because my friends do."
This, I think, tells it all.
The hope that the girls will lower the hemline of their skirt is forlorn. Simple fashion is not at the heart of it. Girls dont wear it to rebel against authority. The girls are not under pressure to change, really, since the unform rules are only enforced on occasion. The girls wear their skirts short because it is what the group does. Fitting in is very important to the Japanese, and if the group wears pink fluffy slippers, then the new person will wear pink fluffy slippers just to be part of the group. This is the biggest motivator in Japan.
If the government at prefectural and national levels is serious about bringing in a degree of modesty, then the link between short skirts, and the group, has to be broken.
The schools can help, by actually keeping the dress code rules. If a girl walks in with a short skirt, the teacher has to tell them immediately to lengthen the skirt. If the girls keep getting told, then eventually they will join the "new age."
Until then, then the Japanese schoolgirl will remain an object of interest to many men, and the source of inspiration for "racy" manga for many years to come.
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