Makeup， hair dye， nails， piercings．．． the changing fashion habits of female athletes． “Everyone checks their lipstick in the mirror before the start．”

Changes in the world of university athletics that reflect the times, with a wide variety of individuality, including dyed hair, makeup, and piercings
Changes are happening in university athletics right now. The 93rd Japan Intercollegiate Championships (Japan Intercollegiate Championships) was held for four days starting on September 19th at Todoroki Stadium in Kanagawa. What was striking about this heated battle to determine the national university champion was the large number of female athletes seen wearing makeup, dyed hair, nail polish, etc. There was a time when it was common for female athletes to have dark hair and no makeup, but that has changed in recent years. Apparently, the degree of freedom in what is considered “fashionable” varies depending on the university. We asked players from each school about the current situation and the impact it has on their sport. The Japan Intercollegiate Championships decides the best university in Japan. On the track and field, it was striking to see female athletes competing in glamorous outfits with makeup, dyed hair, nails and other glamorous outfits. Konan University, a strong team that has won consecutive victories in the women’s 4×100 meter relay, is one of the universities that offers the most freedom. The players not only wear makeup and nails, but also have shiny earrings in their ears. One of the players said, “The club is run by the students themselves, so we are free to do our own hair and nails.” This marks a recent change in college athletics. High schools often have restrictions on makeup and hairstyles, and when we asked the athletes who participated in this tournament about their high school days, the majority of them said things like, “It was prohibited by club rules,” “We had to have short hair because of club rules,” and “There were girls who drew their eyebrows and wore lipstick.” As the saying goes, “It’s automatically prohibited because it’s stipulated in the school rules,” this may also be due to the nature of high schools, where rules exist from an educational perspective. However, going to university ensures that one’s individual wishes are respected to a certain extent. “Many girls start wearing makeup once they reach university age. That’s the trend,” one player said. This year’s tournament will also see rules such as “black hair is required,” “dark brown hair is OK,” “hair color will be decided by the fourth-year students that year,” and “this will be stated by the alumni.” Some universities impose restrictions for various reasons, such as “I can’t say anything because I am receiving financial support,” but in recent years there have been cases where these restrictions have been relaxed. One of them is Waseda University, which has a history and tradition dating back 110 years since its founding. According to club members, “As of this spring, we’ve been allowed to wear natural makeup and nail polish,” meaning they now have more freedom. Perhaps given this background, one athlete’s testimony that “everyone looked in the mirror and put on lipstick before the start” may in a sense reflect the times. Female college students are at an age where they become sensitive to fashion. There were various opinions raised about the restrictions. The responses ranged from honest opinions such as, “If there were no restrictions, I would enter competitions with light-colored hair,” “Perms are okay, I don’t see the difference between that and dyed hair,” and “I think light hair color is fine, but it’s difficult to draw the line,” to comments such as, “I think darker hair looks better,” and “I don’t have any desire to dye my hair, so it doesn’t really bother me.” In some cases, club rules influence the choice of university, with some students saying, “I joined a club with more liberal rules because I wanted to be fashionable.” More in the source