Figure 1.--This stydio portrait shows two Japanese sisters wearing colorful summer kimomnos. The portrait is undated, but the dealer believes it was taken in the 1920s. The flamboyant prints were a new style.

At the time of the Meiji Restoration thec Japanese people wire tradituinal garments, mostly kimonos (1870s). This was true for both men, women, and children. For ome time there wa little change. You begin to see a few men and boys wearing Western dress, but it was much rarer to see girls and women in Western dress throughout the 19th century. The first place we see a lot of Westrwern dress was in schools prtraits, especially in the city schools. Japan was the first Asian country to create a public school system. The esecondary schools wre the first to require uniforms, The biys wire Prissian cadet uniforms and the girls English sailor dresses. Primary schools were slower to require uniforms, but after the turn-of the-20th century spome in the cities also began to require uniforms. After the turn -of the century we begin to see Western dress appearing in the rural schools, expecially after world war II in the 1920--first boys and than the girls as well. Here schools adopting school uniforms were a factor. This is especially the case for boys in schools as school uniforms were adopted with Western styles. While girls were slower to wear Western dress, we see this very quickly change after World War II. The American occupation forces had nothing to do with this. We also see these changes in family portraits. We see girls and women clinging to traditional dress when dressing up for formal occasions, but for everyday wear Western dress quickly became common. We see countless family portraits until after World War II with the boys and men wearing Western styles and the girls and women commonly wearing traditional styles. This varies from family to family, but is very pronounced in the photographic record.

Created: 10:43 PM 10/15/2024
Last updated: 10:43 PM 10/15/2024