Teachers should be prepared to bring in eyewitnesses who have actually visited Tokyo, or accept that their students have the right to deny the existence of such a place. After all, Japan is as much a matter of opinion as spelling or evolution. I met someone once who denied the existence of Wyoming, insisting it was a plot by cartographers to conceal the fact that there is a gap on the Earth where Wyoming is alleged to be. He concluded, logically enough, that if he had never met anybody from Wyoming, that was because there is nobody from Wyoming, and that meant there is no Wyoming. Gym class would be totally revolutionized, of course.
Nobody can deny that the rules of games are arbitrary and thus subject to change.
If someone wants five strikes to an out, so be it. They should have the opportunity to make the rules, at least until the next person comes along and claims that baseball is played with a tennis racket and that the base-runner gets an extra point for tackling the shortstop. The kids may get a little confused when they go see the Royals play, but it'll be well worth it. Think of the exercise their imaginations will get in school every day. Finding the hidden base while doing the hokey pokey has to be more fun than waiting patiently to see if anyone is ever going to hit a ball into left field.