Hi Everyone,
I woke up early today at 5 am. This time, I did not go back to sleep, LOL. Instead, I went to a gym, where many people were doing excercies before work. I was surprised!
Anyway, it is not what I want to talk about.
When I came back, I saw many high school students walking to school.
In Japan, most schools have uniforms, As a matter of fact, uniforms are important to students, and some students consider how attractive uniforms are when they select a school to go to.
Personally, I was not interested in school uniform, and I wore a typical black uniform with a stand-up collar for six years. Actually, the high school I went to did not have any school uniform. However, It was a boys’ school, and they did not care much and most of students wore black ones.
Years later, I read an essay Haruki Murakami, a novelist, wrote. I don’t remember it exactly but it was like this :
‘My (Murakami’s) high school had a vote whether students should wear a uniform or can wear anything we like. The result was that we should wear a uniform. I was disappointed at the result as we did not choose ‘freedom.’ We did throw away the right of having freedom.’
I am not sure if this is an issue of ‘freedom’ but rather Japanese don’t want to stand out from colleagues. Maybe most people feel comfortable when they belong to a community where they feel ‘same.’
At the same time, freedom is not something that is given free, history proves.
Well, when I see students wearing school uniforms, I recall that essay that Murakami wrote, and I think of ‘freedom’ or ‘culture.’
Thank you for reading again,
Toshiya
