March 2nd is the day when high school graduation ceremonies are held nationwide.
I transferred to my current school last April, so this was my first time experiencing the school’s founding ceremony.
I was surprised. Everyone except me was dressed in black, as if it were a funeral.
Of course, some teachers at my previous schools wore black formal attire, but this was the first graduation ceremony where everyone was dressed in black.
The pressure at this school is incredible.
The overwhelming majority of teachers have very old-fashioned educational views, which makes it extremely outdated and left behind compared to many other schools.
This perfectly illustrates the “we’re all the same, and we follow the leader” mentality in Japanese society.
I was the only one who wore a non-black pantsuit to the ceremony.
This is probably difficult for people overseas to understand, but in Japan, not only at graduation ceremonies, but also when students are job hunting, many wear funeral-like suits.
Even when I was a student, I didn’t like wearing these mourning-like suits, so I wore pantsuits instead.
However, I was able to get a job offer from a company.
I also passed the teacher recruitment exam.
Many people who aspire to become teachers are quite conservative, so I think I’m quite rare.
I often tell my students in class that they will be living in the future to value their own individuality.
