Threatening to cut people up with a knife is not the best way to go about airing frustrations.
School uniforms in Japan can be prohibitively expensive, costing parents close to a whopping US$1,000 for a complete set good enough to last through the school year.
Which was why Taimei Elementary School, located in the luxury shopping district of Ginza, ruffled feathers when they announced some time ago that their students will be donning uniforms made by high-end Italian fashion brand, Giorgio Armani.
▼ Those are some rich kids alright.
Not everyone’s thrilled about having young children wear such lavish outfits, least of all a particular 14-year-old junior high school student from Tochigi Prefecture, who took to the Internet to air his disapproval.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the student made thinly-veiled threats on a website earlier this month, commenting that “(Taimei Elementary School) should just let students commute normally. If they don’t cut this out, then I’m going to cut them with a knife.”
Concerned for the safety of staff and students starting a brand new school year, the principal quickly lodged a police report prompting an urgent investigation into the matter. The menacing comments were eventually traced back to the junior high school student who later confessed, “I thought it was wrong of them to make the kids wear expensive uniforms even though they’re just elementary schoolers.”
▼ Though that may be true, it isn’t appropriate to stab people either!
Threat charges have been filed against the offending student, but while the case seems to be closed for now, we can’t help but think that Taimei Elementary School isn’t quite out of the woods yet with their choice of expensive fashion.
Peculiar school uniform regulations can attract the wrong kind of attention in Japan, and if Taimei plans to continue down this path, they may need to prepare for more weird things to come their way.
Source: The Asahi Shimbun Company via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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