Notes

Adolescent rebellion commonly takes the form of small but significant alterations in school uniforms and regulation hair style. Boys express delinquent tendencies through widening the trouser legs of their school uniforms, or wearing sandals rather than regulation footwear. Girls lengthen their skirts beyond the regulated norm or have their hair dyed brown or set in a permanent wave.

Cigarette smoking is considered a serious form of delinquency among high school students. Although smoking on school premises is rare, some teenagers smoke on the streets or in private. When caught in the act, they are taken to the station and admonished by police. Repeated offenses are grounds for expulsion from school.

Substance abuse takes the form of sniffing glue or paint thinner and ranks as a relatively serious manifestation of adolescent anti-social behavior. Although the subject of considerable media attention, the problem remains small in statistical terms. Nationwide in 1984 there were only 15,000 lower and upper secondary school students who were admonished by the police for this act. [24]

There is little adolescent drinking, and marijuana and hard drugs are virtually unavailable. Coupled with the fact that car ownership or regular use by high school students is virtually nonexistent, Japan is spared some very serious, often interrelated problems that are common in some other industrialized nations.

Serious forms of delinquent activity that do occur include shoplifting or theft, usually of bicycles and motorcycles. While there are some motorcycle and automobile hot rodding gangs, the total number of these is relatively small.