Figure 1.--Here in 2010 we see a 3-4 year old boy and his 2-year old little sister, who seems a bit apprehensive about big brother's driving, both wear white tights at amusement park. It looks to be primarily a seasonal choice. Note the long-sleeved shirts.

Our information on the age at which Japanese boys wear tights is still limited. Age trends have varied over time. A Japanese reader tells us that when tights they first appeared in Japan (late-50s/early-60s) were commonly worn by primary school boys. We believe that they essentiallyvreplaced long stockings and thus inherited many of the conventions that existed fir long stockings. They apparently were most commonly worn with short pants by boys up to 9-10 years of age. Older boys up to 11-12 (the last grade of elementary school) might also wear them, but mostly with long pants. This is of course difficifult totell from the photographic record. They were rarely worn by boys after passing on to junior highschool. The age at which Japanese boys wore tights depended on several different factors. As far as we can tell, the age of boys wearing tights has fallen. We still see them being wiorn by younger boys, incliding children in pre-schools (day care and kindergartens). After boys enter school, tights rapidly decline. An exception appears to be the 1st grade boys. We see quite a number of these younger boys wearing tights, often, white tights, for their first day welcoming ceremonies. But after that first year we now see fewer boys wearing tights. Our information is still very limited on this and this is just our initial assessment. An exception here appears to be the recent phenomenon of teenagers wearing tights with jeans.

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Created: 4:42 PM 8/23/2010
Last updated: 4:42 PM 8/23/2010