>A woman in Japan has won compensation after teachers repeatedly pressurised her to dye her hair black, causing her to drop out of school.
>The school did not believe her natural hair colour was brown and told her to dye it black.
>Schools rules prohibit pupils from "getting their hair permed, coloured, bleached or braided with extensions," according to the legal case reported in Japanese media.
>In court the defence said that a vice principal checked the teenager's roots in a "surveying session" and believed it was black, not brown as she claimed.
>She was prevented from joining a school trip, her seat in a classroom was removed and her name was erased from a class list because "her hair was not dyed black enough", the lawsuit added.
>The court sided with the school, agreeing that the rules were legitimate in order to encourage students to focus on their studies.
>But it said the actions left the student depressed and that the school "did not consider the psychological toll" on her.
>Many schools in Japan strictly control pupils' appearances, even going so far as to dictate the colour of underwear.
