Why did they keep wearing traditional Korean-style uniforms? : on the resistance of female students in Korean schools in Japan

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Other Title
  • 彼女たちはなぜチマチョゴリ制服を着続けたのか : 朝鮮学校女子学生らの抵抗をめぐって
  • カノジョタチ ワ ナゼ チマチョゴリ セイフク オ キツズケタ ノカ : チョウセン ガッコウ ジョシ ガクセイ ラノ テイコウ オ メグッテ

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Description

The female students in Korean ethnic schools (Chosŏn hakkyo) in Japan started to wear Korean-style uniforms, which were in fact traditional Korean clothes, beginning in the 1960 s. However, around 1990, the hate crimes against those wearing Korean-style uniforms during commuting began to increase rapidly. Eventually, Korean students adopted Western-style uniforms for commuting and changed into Korean-style uniforms at school. These students have a specific Korean uniform culture, having kept wearing these uniforms despite the possibility of attacks. As such, Korean-style uniforms became a nonverbal means of their agency against the matrix of domination. The school was one factor in deciding whether women could wear traditional Korean clothes as school uniform as an ethnic symbol; another factor was racism, as some people who saw the uniforms as markers of Korean ethnicity attacked the wearers, driven by their North-Korea-Phobia. This article discusses sense-making by students considering their use of Korean-style uniforms and labeling by the Japanese society by taking into consideration the hate crimes against female students. As examples of such encounters, I consider the art of living originating from the resistance of female students at a Korean ethnic school in Kyoto by continuing to wear Korean-style uniforms in 1988 in direct opposition to the school's decision to ban such attire to protect students from racism.

Journal

  • 評論・社会科学

    評論・社会科学 (143), 89-121, 2022-12-31

    The Association of Social Studies, Doshisha University

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