School rules (校則): what the 2022 national guidance asks of schools, and how to raise a rule

Every Japanese school has rules on hair, uniform, shoes, bags, phones and the way to school. Junior high and high school usually call them 校則 (kōsoku, school rules) or 生徒心得 (seito kokoroe); elementary schools often say 生活のきまり (seikatsu no kimari, rules for daily life). If a rule clashes with your child's hair, health, religion or gender, you can ask the school to explain it and to review it. The national guidance now says how.

The guidance: 生徒指導提要, revised December 2022

The Ministry of Education's handbook for teachers on student guidance is the 生徒指導提要 (seito shidō teiyō). It was revised in December 2022, the first revision in twelve years. Its section on rules, 校則の運用・見直し, is short and direct.

Who makes a rule. The principal, in the end:

最終的には校長により制定されるものです。

No law sets out what a rule may say. The handbook notes that courts have accepted rules the principal sets within what is 社会通念上合理的と認められる範囲 (reasonable by ordinary social standards).

What it asks schools to do with a rule

• Publish it. Put the rules on the school website, 学校のホームページ等に公開しておくこと, so anyone at the school or outside it can read them.
• Explain it. Show the background, why the rule was made, so students can understand it.
• Don't only enforce. Teachers should not focus only on making students obey. After a breach, guidance should look at the child's circumstances and the background, not just correct the behaviour.
• Keep reviewing it. A rule whose purpose the school can no longer explain should be checked: is it right for the school's aims, does it fit today, is it needed at all?
• Look for harm. Check whether any student is restricted without educational need.
• Ask students and parents. Hear their views before setting rules, and give the student council and parents' meetings a chance to discuss them.
• Show the procedure. Make clear how a rule is made or changed.

The foreword ties this to the Children's Basic Act, こども基本法 (kodomo kihon-hō), which secures children's chance to give their views. The handbook says taking part in a review teaches students to think about a rule's reasons and effects instead of accepting it uncritically.

By stage: who sets the rules in Tokyo

Stage	Usual name	Who oversees (Tokyo example)
Ward elementary (区立小学校)	「○○小学校のきまり」, 生活のきまり	Ward board of education (Sumida's guideline below)
Ward junior high (区立中学校)	校則, 生徒心得	Ward board of education
Tokyo metropolitan high school and combined school (都立)	校則, 生徒心得, 生徒規則	Tokyo Board of Education (survey below)

In every case the principal decides; the board asks the schools to review and report.

One ward's list: rules every school must re-examine

Sumida Ward's board, in its guideline for ward schools (September 2021), told every school to set up a review group, review the rules every year, write the procedure down and post the result on the school website. It named four kinds of rule that each school must re-examine:

Kind of rule	The ward's examples
No allowance for what a child is born with	Natural hair colour (地毛の色)
No allowance for culture or gender diversity	Uniforms split by sex with no choice; different hair rules by sex
No allowance for health	No coat in winter; finishing all of lunch in a set time
Hard to justify	Socks or underwear that must be white

It also requires the school evaluation survey (学校評価, gakkō hyōka) to include a question on the rules, which is a channel any parent can use.

What Tokyo's high schools reported (FY2025)

Tokyo's board surveyed its 244 metropolitan high-school and combined-school programmes from 27 February to 13 March 2026.

Item	Result
Have set rules	236 (97%)
Checked their rules this year	244 (100%)
Rules published on the school website	244 (100%)
Change procedure written down and shown	110 (46%)
Written down but not shown	62 (26%)
Still to be written down	68 (28%)

Every school checked its rules against five viewpoints, the first being whether the rule and the guidance based on it protect the student's human rights:

生徒の人権を保障したものであるか。

The last asks whether the rule reflects the school, students' views, parents' attitudes and the times.

How to raise a rule

1. Read the rule itself, on the school website or in the handbook from the 入学 (nyūgaku, enrolment) papers. Quote the exact line.
2. Ask for the reason. The guidance expects the school to be able to explain it.
3. For your own child's need (hair, skin, religion, health, gender), ask the class teacher for a meeting and say what adjustment you are asking for. Bring a doctor's note if health is the reason.
4. For a rule that affects everyone, ask how the school reviews rules, then use the channels it names: student council (your child), parents' meeting or PTA, and the school evaluation survey.

What goes wrong

No law sets out school rules, and the handbook describes itself as a basic text for schools and teachers (学校・教職員向けの基本書). Until the school changes a rule, expect it to be applied, and the principal makes the final call. Families who arrive with a complaint about a rule they have only heard about lose time; start from the written text. And a rule that is not on the website is worth asking about in itself: the national guidance treats publishing it as the right practice.

What to do now

• Before 中1 or high school entry: read the new school's rules on its website and note anything that clashes with your child's hair, clothing, faith or health.
• At the first 個人面談 (kojin mendan, one-to-one meeting): raise any adjustment early, before it becomes a breach.
• Each year: answer the 学校評価 survey. In Sumida every school must include a question on the rules; elsewhere, ask whether yours does.
• Ask the school how a rule is changed. If the procedure is not published, ask for it.