- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
Black hair, white shoelaces: Japan school rules under fire
Every school has its rules, but tough regulations at some Japanese institutions, mandating everything from black hair to white shoelaces, are facing increasing criticism and even legal action.
Toshiyuki Kusumoto, a father of two in western Japan's Oita, is seeking court intervention to protect his younger son from regulations he calls "unreasonable".
They include rules on hair length, a ban on styles including ponytails and braids, prohibition of low-cut socks and a stipulation that shoelaces be white.
"These kinds of school rules go against respect for individual freedom and human rights, which are guaranteed by the constitution," Kusumoto told AFP.
Later this month, he will enter court-mediated arbitration with the school and city, hoping authorities will revise the rules.
Change is already under way in Tokyo, which recently announced that strict rules on issues such as hair colour will be scrapped at public schools in the capital from April.
But elsewhere, the rules are fairly common and Kusumoto, who recalls chafing at similar restrictions as a child, hopes his legal action will bring broader change.
"It's not only about our children. There are many other children across Japan who are suffering because of unreasonable rules," he said.
Such regulations, which generally come into force when children enter middle school at around age 12, emerged after the 1970s, according to Takashi Otsu, an associate professor of education at Mukogawa Women's University.
- Rules 'destroyed a student's life' -
At the time, "violence against teachers became a social problem, with schools trying to control the situation through rules", he told AFP.
"Some kinds of rules are necessary for any organisation, including schools, but decisions on them should be made with transparency and ideally involving students, which would allow children to learn democratic decision-making," he said.
The array of regulations has been defended as helping ensure order and unity in the classroom, but there have been other challenges.
In 2017, an 18-year-old high-school girl who was repeatedly ordered to dye her naturally brown hair black filed a lawsuit in Osaka seeking compensation of 2.2 million yen ($19,130) for psychological suffering.
The case made national headlines and eventually led to the government last year instructing education boards to examine whether school rules reflect "realities around students".
But in a sign of the difficult debate over the subject, both Osaka's district and appeals courts ruled schools could require students to dye their hair black within their discretion for "various educational" purposes.
The student said she was regularly harassed over the issue even though she was colouring her hair to meet the requirements, according to her lawyer.
"This rule destroyed a student's life," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his client's identity.
The student, now 22, has not given up though, and in November appealed to the supreme court.
- 'Recipe for unthinking children' -
There are other signs of pressure to change the rules, including a petition submitted to the education ministry in January by teen members of rights group Voice Up Japan.
They want the ministry to encourage schools to work with students on discussing rule changes.
"We started this campaign because some of our members have had unpleasant experiences with school rules," said 16-year-old Hatsune Sawada, a member of Voice Up Japan's high-school division.
The petition gives the example of a girl who was humiliated by a teacher for growing a fringe that, when flattened with a hand, covered the girl's eyebrows -- a violation of the rules.
In Oita, the rules also include school uniforms designated by gender, with trousers only for boys and skirts for girls.
The local education board says the rules "not only nurture a sense of unity among children but also ease the economic burden for families of buying clothes".
But Kusumoto disagrees.
"A sense of unity is not something that is imposed, it's something that should be generated spontaneously," he said.
Imposing these kinds of rules "is a recipe for producing children who stop thinking".
P.Santos--AMWN