There is a growing trend among municipal junior high schools in the district of Aki, Hiroshima Prefecture, to offer female students a choice between skirts and a pair of pants for their uniforms.
In many cases, students can also choose between ties and ribbons. In addition to being more gender neutral, the new uniform policy is also more functional in terms of keeping warm and it being easier to move around, meaning it has gained the support of students.
Saka Junior High School introduced a pair of pants for girls this spring amid requests from parents of students who entered the school in April. Several girls in the school's first grade now wear them.