>Anecdotes, I know. Neither here nor there. Basically, I think the kids
>should get to decide whether they want to wear them or not.
They do.
<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB106003298971986900,00.html> (may need subscribtion)
For Japanese Girls, Uniforms Are Now Too Cool for School Teenage Trendsetters Skirt Conformity With New Fad
By TODD ZAUN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
TOKYO -- Browsing in the trendy 109 department store here, 16-year-olds Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao are wearing what look like typical Japanese school uniforms: white blouses, navy-blue pleated miniskirts, knee-high socks and matching penny loafers.
But the outfits aren't the teenagers' real school uniforms. They are uniform-like clothes that the two girls from the Tokyo suburb of Saitama have specifically picked out to wear on their shopping trip.
"Everyone is wearing uniforms," says Ms. Tanaka. "They're cute and easy to coordinate."
Once seen as a symbol of conformity and oppression, the school uniform has over the past two years become ultrachic among Japanese girls. Many are wearing uniforms, or clothes that look like uniforms, on weekends and after school. Some girls wear uniforms even though their schools have no dress code. Ozakishoji Co., a uniform maker in western Japan, is seeing stronger-than-expected sales despite a shrinking population of students.
Suddenly, it's hip to be a high-school girl. After years of riding the cutting edge of Japan's fickle fashion waves, schoolgirls are seen as the ultimate arbiters of what's cool, and their tastes are monitored by everyone from fashion designers to electronics companies. Schoolgirls were behind the rise of pop icons such as Hello Kitty, and were early and enthusiastic users of text messaging over cellphones. In the matter of school uniforms, they dream of staying just as they are.
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