A 45-year-old Hiroshima woman recently sent a text message to the Chugoku Shimbun newsroom that read: "A dress code at the elementary school my son goes to specifies that boys must wear shorts. Some students in higher grades feel embarrassed about exposing their legs. Isn't the shorts-only dress code out of date?"

Her complaint raises further questions: Who decides what one can wear to school? And what is a school dress code in the first place?

The public school in question, as a general rule, has a dress code requiring boys to wear shorts. Students can wear long trousers only when they are sick, and doing so requires a note from a parent.