There are many others of a similar composition, often coloured, flavoured, or peculiarly shaped; but their principal ingredients are the articles already mentioned. Japanese confectionery is noticeable for the large quantity of saccharine matter it contains, which varies, except in rare cases, from one to three fourths of the whole composition. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that indigestion is a frequent result of a too free indulgence in Japanese confections.
CHAPTER VII.
MALE DRESS.
Japanese and foreign dress—Progress in the latter—Japanese clothes indispensable—Kimono—Cutting out—Making of an unlined dress—Short measure—Extra-sized dresses—Yukata—The lined kimono—The wadded kimono—Under-dress—Underwear—Obi—Haori—The crest—The uncrested haori—Hakama—Socks—How to dress Wearing of socks.
A stranger in the streets of Tokyo cannot but be struck by the number of Japanese, especially men and boys, who are dressed in European clothes. The western costume, if less picturesque, is certainly more handy than the Japanese; it allows a greater freedom to the limbs, whereas in the latter the long sleeves are apt to be caught by knobs and corners and the skirt is always in the way when we wish to run or walk fast. For this reason the European male dress is largely worn in schools, government offices, and private places of business, which are built in a style more or less foreign and furnished with chairs, benches, and tables; for squatting is uncomfortable with foreign clothes and, whatever the dress may be, is a more complicated way of resting ourselves than sitting in a chair, besides requiring a greater effort when we wish to rise. But there are further reasons for the favour which European clothes enjoy in Japan. They last much longer than Japanese, for silks wear out pretty quickly if they are constantly in use and are, moreover, torn more readily. If they are soiled, they have to be taken to pieces, washed, perhaps redyed, and remade. Besides, a Japanese outfit of fair quality is more costly than a European suit. And as the custom stands in Japan, we have to provide ourselves with several Japanese suits; whereas so many changes are not needed of European clothes, in respect of which the Japanese people, as a whole, have not yet learned to discriminate so rigidly as when their national costume is concerned. A man may, in fact, wear the same frock-coat all the year round and make it last long by taking as great care of it as he does of his Japanese clothes. All things considered, then, European clothes are both more handy and economical, and on that account preferred to Japanese on business and ceremonial occasions.
In the early days of the new regime when European clothes were comparatively rare and not unfrequently worn rather as a sign of their wearers’ progressive spirit than for their convenience, it was considered sufficient if they were simply European, no account being taken of their cut or style. A man in a tweed cutaway or serge lounge suit found ready access to an evening party or a semi-official gathering. But as time went on, the frock-coat became the usual dress on such occasions; still, silk hats were not yet generally worn, and bowlers remained the common wear. The evening dress was the official suit and was worn at one time even in the morning, if there was an official ceremony at such early hours. It is only within the last decade that silk hats have come into vogue; and they are now worn with the frock-coat or evening dress at all parties and social gatherings. But as they are still only worn at social functions, they last a long time, and at garden parties silk hats of all ages and styles may be seen.
The rapid encroachment of European clothes into Japanese society is undeniable; and if we may judge from the steady increase of tailoring establishments in Tokyo and elsewhere, they seem destined to command a still greater popularity. But there appears to be little ground for the prediction often made by European writers that the national dress is doomed. For so long as Japanese houses remain radically unchanged and we are forced to squat on the mat, Japanese clothes cannot be dispensed with. European clothes are not comfortable to squat in; as the body cannot be kept quite straight, the collar presses on the throat, the waistcoat gets creasy, the trousers soon become baggy about the knees, and the socks are but a poor protection against the cold since they cannot be hidden as under the skirt of the Japanese dress. In a room warmed only by a small brazier, we feel the winter chill more severely in European clothes than in Japanese. In summer no one who has once worn the Japanese yukata would willingly take it off, for it is the slightest possible consistent with decency as it is nothing more than a single unlined dress. It is the coolest imaginable. Other Japanese summer clothes are only less cool than the yukata. Hence, a Japanese of the upper or middle class has usually to provide himself with both European and Japanese suits, that is, if he wears European clothes at all, and is put to double expenses in the matter of clothing. And to be completely equipped in both requires no light purse.
The ordinary Japanese dress is shaped like a gown with hanging sleeves. As the exact shape of the kimono, as it is called, appears unknown to those who have never seen it, we will here explain how a kimono is made.
The kimono is made out of a piece of silk, cotton, or hemp cloth, usually eleven inches wide and about thirty-five feet long. Cloths are always made of nearly the same measure or of double the length just mentioned, that is, if they are for making kimono. The length and width may vary slightly, cotton cloths being for instance smaller than silk. The cloth is cut out into two pieces each for the body, the sleeves, and the gores, and one for the band and sometimes another for the upper band, or into seven or eight pieces in all. The body pieces are each ten feet long and the sleeve pieces three feet and a half, so that the two pairs take up twenty-seven feet; they are of the same width as the original piece. The remainder is cut into two strips, usually six and five inches wide, of which the former is cut in two lengths of four feet three inches each, if possible, for the gores and the latter into a strip, five feet eight inches long, for the main band, the remainder being used, if needed, for the upper band.