Kyoto University in Japan has revealed it would be allowing students to wear anything they want for their graduation ceremony but says it did not expect its students to take “anything” quite literally.
The university permits a ritual that allows students come to the ceremony in bizarre cosplays, with the annual event not only a highlight for the students but also for the relatives of the students who are also invited to the event.
Tokyo University had first initiated the trend after which Kyoto followed suit.
Universities in Japan has students traditionally adorning suits, dresses, or women’s classic hakama kimonos but a new change in modus operandi at Kyoto University now allows its students to express their identities while receiving their prized graduate degrees.
The Director of global communications at Kyoto University, David Hajime Kornhauser told Bored Panda:
“The university has a long tradition of being anti-authoritarian. So I’m guessing the roots go back quite a long time, though the university officially doesn’t condone it.”
While averring that the university is about liberty, he said:
“it’s kind of a personal preference, do people want to be sort of traditional or are they just doing something to express themselves in some other way or not?”
David however said not all students take part in the merriment:
“It seems that for a long time, students at this university have chosen just to be whatever they want to be. But it’s actually not a large number of people. I mean, it’s mainly, I would say, it isn’t even 10%. And they stand out because they try to sit up front. So it looks like there’s a lot of people doing it, but actually, I think, it’s probably only just the people right at the front, and then the vast majority of the graduates are more or less traditional.”
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