Nude health checkups in Japanese schools cause an uproar

Recently, the nude health checkup method in Japanese schools has sparked widespread controversy. According to reports from The Guardian and local Japanese media, in many Japanese schools, students ranging from 5 to 18 years old are required to take off their clothes to the waist during health checkups. Some schools even require students to be topless throughout the entire examination process, and female students also need to take off their bras.

In Japan, from elementary school to high school, there are regular physical examinations in accordance with the School Health and Safety Law. They are uniformly carried out in various schools from May to June each year. However, there is no unified policy on whether students should undress. It is jointly decided by local education committees and health care personnel, which leads to huge differences in physical examination requirements among different schools.

Although some doctors say that baring the chest is to check for atopic dermatitis, irregular heartbeats and other diseases, many students and parents believe that this practice has brought them great discomfort and psychological pressure. A poll of middle school students aged 12 to 16 showed that as high as 95.5% of respondents were dissatisfied with undressing for physical examinations. Tanaka, a councillor in Nishinomiya City, pointed out that many such health checkups not only fail to help students grow up healthily but instead cause serious psychological problems. Some students still find it terrifying to recall this experience even when they become ***s, and it even affects their establishment of close relationships with others.

In January 2024, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issued a notice requiring schools to consider students' feelings during health checkups, such as separating male and female students for examinations and using shielding facilities to protect privacy. If students' clothes need to be lifted, consent must be obtained first. However, after the notice was issued, some parents still hope that the country can issue more specific guidelines to ensure that all regions and schools implement unified standards. This incident has triggered heated discussions in all sectors of society and also made people start to reflect on how to better protect students' privacy and dignity during campus physical examinations while ensuring the scientific nature and rationality of physical examinations.