>>> Item number 34393 from WRITERS LOG9407D --- (108 records) ---- <<< Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: SUB: The Uniform Society The oddest part of this one is that I don't like it. Comments? tink ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Uniform Society Copyright 1994 Mike Barker On Saturday morning, casual players crowd a neighborhood tennis court. But an American visitor looks and then asks if there is a tournament or something else official because every person wears a tennis outfit. In Japan, to play tennis means wearing the right clothing. Sundays in Tokyo on Meijidori, young bands and the rock and rollers gather. Americans looking at the crowds squint and look again, with a feeling that something doesn't quite look right. Careful attention to details may show what is wrong. Too many of the costumes are too similar. The holes in the jeans are carefully cut and shaped. The clothes often show creases where they have cleaned and pressed their outfits. The hairstyles, the actions, everything shows that this is the weekend uniform for these young people. Of course, these young people are deliberately trying for a certain look. A man I worked with was invited to try mountain climbing. It was his first time and he wasn't at all sure whether he would take up the hobby or not. Afterwards, he complained about how much money it cost him just to try the sport. I asked what he had to buy that was so expensive. He explained that part went for the sleeping bag, backpack, and other gear. However, about half the cost was for the mountaineering outfit and boots. He and the group he went with wouldn't even think of trying the sport without dressing in the correct uniform. A loud plaid shirt, knee pants, knee socks, and hiking boots are at least part of the "Japanese mountain climbing uniform" that I have learned to recognize. Without those, you can't go mountain climbing. And, of course, wearing those, everyone knows that you are going mountain climbing. Casual baseball games, volleyball, and other times when an American might simply wear jeans or cutoffs, a T-shirt, and old sneakers usually call for particular sports' uniforms in Japan. These are all sports. But even in daily life, the correct clothing is needed. Once our car battery failed and we asked a neighbor for a jump. He was quite happy to help. However, having gotten the cars positioned, he opened his trunk and started digging through boxes and packages. I thought at first he was looking for the jumper cables, but they were in plain sight in front of him. Finally he found what he was looking for, and carefully put on a special jacket, hat, and gloves. When I asked, he said he always wears them when he works on the car. He needed to put on his "car working uniform" before letting me open the hood and hook up the jumper cables. Even in the morning rush hour, most of the people you see can be quickly and easily identified by their "uniform." The men in suits and ties are salarymen going to the offices. The young women in dresses are OL (office ladies) headed for the same place. Most of them will change at the office into a company uniform. A man in puffed colorful pants, matching vest, T-shirt and high-top rubber boots split between the big toe and the rest of his toes is a daikusan (carpenter) on his way to some kind of manual labor. The younger people wear school uniforms, with standard bookbags and other equipment specific to their age and school. Sometimes the college students will wear outfits that are less formal--but since they tend to all wear similar clothing, even when it isn't a uniform it has the same effect. The occasional older person, mother with children, or other person with a special purpose or destination usually wears clothes that make it very easy to identify their place in society. Even some vacations require the uniform of the place. For example, when you go to an onsen (hot springs) to enjoy the hot baths, you usually go for a walk around the town to see the tourist shops. Most people do this wearing a yukata (a light cotton kimono) and geta (wooden slippers) from the hotel. Wearing the uniform and taking a walk to show off where you are staying is part of being a tourist, and people don't really feel as if they've properly enjoyed themselves without this part of the experience. In some ways, the onsen, the shared hot bath, is a special case where the correct uniform is nudity. Even a rotenburo (outdoor bath) can be shared without embarrassment by the sexes since they are dressed correctly for the situation--in the Emperor's new clothes, an invisible uniform. The marriage reception also is a special case. The guests wear suits and dresses, with occasional tuxedoes or kimonos. Most of the men wear a special white tie only worn at weddings. The groom may also wear either traditional or new formal clothes. The bride, though, will wear at least two outfits and sometimes three during the reception. She will start in one, then disappear and come back again in another. Part of the entertainment is watching her entrances in her various special clothes. Funerals also have some special clothing associated. Black ties, never worn on any other occasion, appear on the men, along with black suits. Americans sometimes say "clothes make the man." But the strength of the connection between situations and clothes that Japan takes for granted, especially in situations which an American would consider casual, denies that rugged individualism that Americans prize. So Americans at play relax in a ragged motley of old and new, without much concern for appearances. Japan relaxes in uniforms, matching appearances concealing underlying differences with comfortable uniformity. ------------------------------------------------------------------