The Osaka High School Teachers Union has decided to protest an Osaka prefectural assemblyman's description of a high school graduation ceremony as resembling a nightclub, the union said Sunday.
The assemblyman was referring to ethnic clothing worn by female graduates.
The union decided to ask the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education to urge Hiroshi Yagi, a Liberal Democratic Party assembly member, to retract his comment and apologize.
Yagi made the comments on Friday at an assembly plenary session.
During the session, Yagi talked about a graduation ceremony he attended at a prefectural high school in the city of Osaka.
"The graduating students were wearing 'chogori,' 'ao dai' and Chinese dress," he said. "I felt like I was coming into a nightclub."
A chogori is a form of traditional Korean dress for women. An ao dai is a traditional Vietnamese garment.
Yagi made the comment while asking a question about appointing people from the private sector as high school principals.
The union said the comment ignores the fact that there are many students of various ethnic identities living in Japan and attending such high schools, and called the comment a serious violation of those students' human rights.