Figure 1.--Elementary age Japanese boys usually wore short pants for play. Even today jeans are not commonly worn until the boys become teenagers.

Fashions were to change somewhat after World War II. The Prussian cadet uniform survives to this day in many secondary schools and a few primary, but one thing remained constant until well into the 1980s: the extraodinary attention paid in Japan to attire fitting one's station in life. Artists, teachers, businessmen, housewives, young unmarried women, athletes all have their instantly recognizable ways of dressing--and this applied to boys as well. For older boys in secondary school that meant the Prussian uniform. (Older girls wore some version of another military uniform--the sailor suit). For younger boys in primary schools that meant short pants.

Chronology

Japan is a very traditional socity. Fashion changes more slowly than in the west. Ther were major changes in boys clothes in the late 1940s and early 50s. Japanese boys in the 1930s and 40s wore long pants, but they were long baggy shorts. This changed in the late 1940s and early 50s. Japan's defeat n World War II came as a great shock. Occupation by the Americans was the cause of a national soul searching. It also was an era when Japan looked outward. There was enormous interest in America and other foreign countries. Foreign fashions became very popular. Mothers soon adopted European styles for their boys. As economic conditions improved in the 1950s, the style of much shorter short pants became popular for Japanese boys. In the 1970s tube stovks with shorts became very popular as did sports styled shorts. Many of the fashion trends set in the 1950s did not begin to change sign significantly until the 1990s. Only in the mid-1990s did boys begin to wear the longer baggy shorts that had become popular in Europe and America.

Figure 2.--Knit clothing was popular in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s.

Imported European fashions

Japanese boys after the Second World War initially continued to wear long baggy shorts. The style developed in the 1950s to very short shorts. Mothers saw shorts shorts as being stylish and European and thought that boys looked sweet in them. Women at the time primarily looked to Europe, not America for fashion. Fathers seemed to think that shorts were good for boys and helped to toughen them, especially during the winter. It was in continental Europe (not British) that boys, even older boys wore short pants, often cut very short. It is interesting that Japanese boys' fashions shifted to Continental European fashions, similar to the shorts worn in France and Italy. The Japanese adopted so many aspects of American popular fashion during the occupation in the 1940s and 1950s--but not boys' fashions. Probably doting Japanese mothers didn't think jeans were suitable for little boys which they wanted to dress more attractively. What ever the origin, short pants were worn as part of school uniforms and for both dress and casual outfits. I'm not sure if popular boys' fashions influenced schools to adopt short pants uniforms or if schools adopting them influenced mothers buy short pants for both dress and casual wear. The fashion trend does not seem to have been set by any central authority. The pervasiness of the style suggests it was, but I think the short shorts were simply popular with many parents and subsequently adopted by individual school authorities.

Garments

We have some information on various garmnents commonly worn by Japanese boys in the post-wae era. Some of the most notable were caps, short pants, various dress and casual outfits, tights, and knitwear. We hope to add further details as more infirmation becomes available. We note major changes both in the garments worn and in the styling of those garments. Short pants were worn before World war II, but after the war, much more stylish short-cut shorts come into style. Pert of the reason was Japan's growing prosperity with parents earning enough money to begin buying stylish clothes for thenselves and their children, but many other facors were involved.

Figure 3.--These elementary boys in the 1970s wear colored knee socks matching the color of their short pants. Brightly colored knee socks, like the red knee socks worn by one of these boys, were not commonly worn by European boys. American boys did not commonly wear knee socks for play and casual wear.

Expanding Wardrobes

With the post-war economic boom, parents had significantly expanding incomes. This meant money for consumer purchases on a level that was not previously posdible. Japanese mothers began lavishing their rising spending powerr on their children, including clothing for their children. Japanese children began acquiring substabntial wardrobes for both dress and casual wear. Many boys had suits, but they were not as commonly worn as in Europe and America. More common was a kind of dressy casual look. After World War II as part of the increased Western influence, it was common to buy boys a suit for dress occasons. Elementary age Japanese children through the 1980s commonly, but not always, wore short short pants, although usually not suits. It was common, however, to buy a boy a suit for his first day of school. Japanese boys continued to wear short pants at a time they were becoming less common in American and even Europe. After the mid-1960s short pants suits were not commonly worn in America and were becoming less common in Europe. British boys continued to wear short pants uniforms with blazers and suit jackets, but after the 1960s older boys rarely wore short pants suits. Japanese boys commonly wore short pants suits as late as the 1980s, through about 11 years of age. At about 12 when boys left elementary school, they would begin wearing long pants suits. While many Japanese boys had suits, they were not as commonly worn as in Europe and America. More common was a kind of dressy casual look. Boys tended to play in the same style of short short pants that they wore to school, but with more variety of colors and more casual shirts. Japanese casual clothes often had a dressy look to them and were worn in relatively formal settings. Both knee socks and ankle socks were worn for play, almost always with tennis shoes. Japanese boys did not wear the jeans and "T" shirts worn by American boys. The play clothes worn by Japanese boys was often more colorful than that worn by American boys. Often Japanese children wore bright reds, yellows, and greens. White knee and ankle socks were often woirn with white tennis shoes. Some times colored knee socks, even brightly colored ones, were worn matching the color of their short pants.

Department Store Catalogs

Japanese department store catalogs, like those from other countries, provide many useful details about popular boys' fashions. Unlike fashion magazines, the department store catalogs provide information on fashions often selling. The fashion magazines sometimes provide more fanciful information about fashions that designers and mothers would like for their boys rather than what was actually worn.

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Created: April 14, 1988
Last updated: June 11, 2004