Gender in Japan

Would they look cute in BDUs and flak jackets?

Despite modern Japan's pacifistic stance on world conflicts (barring recent Komeito-type rumblings), students in middle and high school have been wearing Prussian and British military uniforms since the early part of the 20th century.
I visited a middle school's music festival in a town near Gifu a few weekends ago. Before coming to Japan, I'd thought the uniforms looked pretty cool. What guy wouldn't want to look bad in black? And of course, the sailor seifuku is really cute. But since coming here and witnessing girls and boys teetering on the edge of adolescence, gaining their first real awareness of the way the world works, I can't help but wonder what kind of effect this is having on their psyche.
As a kid, I went to Catholic schools that had uniforms, so I know what the pro-uniform attitude is based on: removing dress as a means of expressed social status and distraction from education. However, the use of militaristic designs leads me to believe that the education system is steering the students towards a homogenous view of Japanese society.
I will ask some Japanese students, as well as my friend in Gifu who studies the Japanese school system, and likely add to this post at a later time. (By "later" I mean "some time after grades close.")

Throw Me A Ball? Throw Me A Bone!

If someone were to ask you about your high school's baseball or football team, who would you think of first? The coaches? The players?
An integral part of Japanese sports teams (at least at the high school and college level) are the female members who support the players from the sidelines and supply sheds. The "manejaa" (manager) take care of chores and sort of act as team-specific cheerleaders.
Manejaa join teams for various reasons; some are acting on their school spirit, some are genuinely interested in sports team management, and some just want to watch the hunky guys do their thing on the field. (And maybe ask them out.)
I can't help but imagine that having girls around drives the players to work harder, too - who wouldn't want to impress the cutie in the tracksuit tossing your practice pitches?
Further reading: http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/user/flec/english/neil/pubshtmlfiles/neilpubjalt06.htm
(scroll down about halfway and start reading just before the italicized paragraph.)