Japan Retail News - Inside consuming Japan - Trends, Products, People, Tech - Market Entry Japan
  • Japan Retail News - Home
  • Japan's Retail Market
    • Japan Business Links
    • JapanTV ads (CM) >
      • JapanTVads-Food
      • JapanTVads-Refresh
      • JapanTVads-Beauty
      • JapanTVads-Fashion
      • JapanTVads-HighTech
      • JapanTVads-Cars
      • JapanTVads-Service
  • Japan Market Reports
    • List Japan Market Reports
    • Doing Business with Japanese
    • EyeWear Japan
    • Kitchen Market Japan
    • Solar Market Japan
    • Furniture & Interior Market Japan
    • Retail & Consumer Goods Japan
    • Cosmetics Market Japan
    • Machinery & Tools Japan
    • Semiconductor Market Japan
    • Automotive & Suppliers Japan
    • Automotive Aftermarket & Autoparts Japan
    • Luggage Market Europe
  • Japan Market Entry Services
  • About JRN
    • Contact

Japanese School Uniforms: A Tale of imported Culture

6/6/2012

 
Picture
Sailor-style outfits, blazers, and stand-up collars are just some representative items from Japanese school uniforms, which are now spreading across the world as part of the "Cool Japan" trend. Behind the skirts and the sleeves, however, are decades' worth of imported culture and generational changes.

Picture
In July 2011, some 30 youths of different ethnicities were found on stage in a Japanese fashion show in Paris as part of France's big annual Japanese culture event, Japan Expo. The models sported checked miniskirts, cardigans, blazers, and other items found in modern Japanese school uniforms. 

In addition to cute outfits, the performances on the catwalk were abundant in "peace" signs and other typical Japanese gestures and poses -- followed by loud applause from the audience -- all of which underscored the "kawaii," or cute, appeal of Japanese culture, which seems to be turning into an internationally accepted term.

The fashion show was organized by school uniform retailer Conomi, which has five shops, including two in Tokyo's largest youth fashion area, Harajuku. "The event made me realize that Japanese school uniforms are no longer perceived as 'cosplay,' but as real fashion," says Conomi's Vice President, Toyoko Yokoyama, 36, who can't shake off the excitement she felt at the show.

Picture
Conomi's school uniforms are original items that are not part of any school's designated uniforms. Nevertheless, youngsters -- often accompanied by their parents -- are flooding Conomi's shops, passionately choosing neckties, sweaters, blazers, skirts, and other items. In other words, even students who don't attend schools that require students to wear uniforms are keen on wearing them as fashion, company officials say.

"It seems that many youngsters perceive school uniforms as a type of clothing they can wear only when they are young -- a limited sort of fashion 'privilege,'" Yokoyama says. "Recently boys are increasingly visiting the shops too. It seems that their mothers are trying to make them look like handsome school boys from popular TV dramas."

Whether in Japan or abroad, it seems fair to say that school clothing is at the forefront of "kawaii" and "kakkoii" (cool) fashion for youngsters.

Looking back on the history of uniforms in modern Japanese education after the promulgation of the school system in 1872, the standard school uniform style for female students was "hakama," a type of traditional Japanese long skirt. This particular style spread across the country around the beginning of the 20th century, and quickly became a symbol of female Japanese students.

Picture
Originally, the female school hakama used to be colored purple, but this was later changed to "ebichairo," or brownish-crimson, as purple in Japan was considered a noble color, traditionally worn by aristocrats. According to some historical sources, following the color change, female students were nicknamed "Ebichairo Shikibu" after the author of "The Tale of Genji," Murasaki Shikibu, the first part of whose name means "purple."


Girls wearing sailor-style uniforms that were first introduced at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin pose for a photograph in this 1922 file photo. (Photo courtesy of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin) However, the hakama style of clothing proved to be too expensive for young women who were interested in competing with each other in fashion and looks, and troublesome when it came to washing. For these reasons, female school clothing gradually shifted to Western-style outfits.

The two-part sailor-style school uniform worn today was first introduced in Japan at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Junior and Senior High School in Fukuoka Prefecture, some 90 years ago, in 1921. The figure behind the switch was 27-year-old American missionary Elizabeth Lee, who was serving as the school's principal at the time, and trying to teach the girls to play volleyball.

At the time, all the girls wore Japanese-style clothes, which were restricting their mobility. After watching her students struggle to move around, Lee came up with the idea of using sailor-style clothes, which she herself liked to wear. The sailor outfit, which was traditionally worn by members of the navy, was back then a popular trend among women in the U.S. and Europe.

The sailor-style uniform, which was perfected after a series of trial pieces had been made at a Western-clothing store near Fukuoka Jo Gakuin, quickly became popular across the country, and turned into a major Western fashion hit.

Picture
Its standard style -- dark blue cloth, a dark red necktie, three stripes of dark red on the collar and the cuffs, and a white anchor mark above the chest -- has not changed over the past 90 years. It is not uncommon for students at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin to wear the same uniform their mothers and grandmothers wore when they were students.

Among them is Mei Nomiyama, 15, a first-year high school student at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin. "I can feel the history," she says. "When I see other schools' sailor uniforms, I am always reminded that our school was the first one (to introduce them). I feel that it's a great thing."

While in recent years skirts and blazers are more common as school uniforms for girls, there are many students who wish to enter Fukuoka Jo Gakuin simply because they want to wear the sailor uniform, officials at the school say. "Given the long tradition and people's appreciation of the uniform, it is unlikely that it will change with time," says Yuji Motomura, the head of the school's planning and public relations division.

The sailor school uniform, a clothing style that was originally imported from overseas, is now, a century later, being exported from Japan -- as a new trend that is building its own history day by day.
(By Takashi Fukuda, Tokyo City News Department, and Yosuke Miki, Kyushu News Department; The Mainichi)


Comments are closed.
    JRN logo
    JRN

    Archives

    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    March 2008
    November 2007
    February 2007
    July 2006
    April 2006
    March 2006

    Categories

    All
    3d
    Abenomics
    Advertising
    Airlines
    Ana
    Apple
    Apps
    Architecture
    Asahi
    Beer Japan
    Bicycle
    Books
    Cafes
    Cars Japan
    Coffee
    Cosmetics
    Culture
    Department Stores
    Design
    Disney
    Docomo
    Dogs
    Drinks
    Economy Japan
    Ecotech
    Education
    Energy
    Farming
    Fashion Japan
    Flu
    Food
    Food Labels
    Food Market
    Forever 21
    Fujitsu
    Furniture Japan
    Gadgets
    Games
    Globalization
    Haagen Dazs
    Health
    Health Care
    Hello Kitty
    Heritage
    Hightech
    Hm Japan
    Hobby
    Honda
    Hotels
    Household Spending
    Hybrid
    Ikea Japan
    Industry
    Interior Japan
    Kids
    Kitson
    Living Cost
    Merger&Acquisition
    Merger&Acquisition
    Mitsubishi
    Mobiles
    Music
    Nhk
    Nintendo
    Olympia
    Online Shopping
    Online Supermarket
    Panasonic
    Pets
    Private Label
    Product Labelling
    Public Transportation
    Qr Codes
    Railway
    Real Estate
    Retail Japan
    Robots
    Sanrio
    Sanyo
    Science
    Security
    Sega
    Service
    Shiseido
    Social Media
    Solar Energy
    Sony
    Space
    Sports
    Statistics
    Supermarkets
    Tobacco
    Toilet
    Toshiba
    Tourists
    Toyota
    Toys
    Trade Shows
    Tradition
    Travel
    Twitter
    Uniqlo
    Vitamins
    Vuitton
    Wealth
    Wearable Tech
    Women

     


Our motto ...

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein

Stay in touch with JRN

 
Market Entry Japan request
> Get in touch with us/JRN
>> Speak to a Japan Expert
         Japan - a fascinating market with unique consumers buying extraordinary products. Be part of it.   Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved.   Japan Retail News© is powered by EJBC since 2005