Japanese girl says school forced her to dye hair black

The girl has not attended school for over a year

AJapanese teenager is suing the government of Osaka, saying her public high school repeatedly forced her to dye her naturally-brown hair black or be banned from attending school, local media reported yesterday.

In a lawsuit filed in Osaka District Court, the 18-yearold girl said her mother informed Kaifukan School in Habikino city upon her enrolment that she was born with brownish hair, as the school had a policy banning hair colouring, media reported. Educators, however, instructed her to colour her hair black, telling her repeatedly that the dye job was insufficient and forcing her to “either dye the hair black or quit school”, Kyodo News reported, citing the lawsuit.

The girl has not attended school since September 2016, suffered pain and irritation from the hair dye, and is seeking damages of about 2.2 million yen (Dh70,796), said media, adding that Osaka prefecture is asking the court to reject the claim.