An emerging number of Japanese schools are introducing genderless uniforms or flexible uniform codes in an effort to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

School officials hope the move will ease the mental anguish of students hitherto required to wear rigidly gendered uniforms such as a jacket with stand-up collar and trousers for boys and a sailor-type outfit with a skirt for girls.

At Kashiwanoha Junior High School in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, which opened in April, students can freely choose whether to wear skirts or slacks as well as ties or ribbons to go with blazers regardless of their gender.

Originally, the school did not intend to make students wear a uniform but had to change course as nearly 90 percent of parents and prospective students surveyed wanted one.

A panel of parents, teachers, prospective students and education board members was set up to discuss a suitable kind of uniform. Some members said consideration should be paid to LGBT students and that girls should also be allowed to wear trousers because they are more practical and warmer in winter.

Similar moves are spreading elsewhere in Japan with a junior high school in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Fukuoka preparing to abandon stand-up collar uniforms and sailor-style suits, instead introducing blazers and allowing students to choose between skirts and trousers in the new school year from April 2019.

In Tokyo, the education board of Setagawa Ward is set to follow suit next April while the education boards in the cities of Osaka and Fukuoka said they will start considering what kind of school uniforms would be acceptable for LGBT students.

Anri Ishizaki, who heads FRENS, a nonprofit organization supporting LGBT people, said that trying to fit all students in gender-specific school uniforms can be a burden to transgender students who are afraid of coming out. Read more via Kyodo News