Quote:
Originally Posted by
Holdfast 
Thanks for finding the old thread.
It's a while since I read the essay, so I can't remember whether Slade mentions this,
but the arrival of the suit in Japan coincided with a broader cultural crossroads between its old/insular traditions and Western industrialisation. That in itself made its adoption a daring statement of modernity.
Quite so. In fact, the push for modernisation was, in many ways, championed by the Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), who ruled from around 1868 to 1912. His rule - the first by an Emperor (instead of the military ruler, the shogun) for some 260 years - both coincided with and greatly contributed to an era of massive reforms in Japan - societal reforms, political reforms and economic reforms.
Importantly, the Meiji restoration saw the abolition of the samurai class and the creation of a modern military force which included both samurai and others, as national conscription was introduced and modern military methods and technology was introduced from overseas. Japan was opened up to other countries, both in terms of trade and cultural exchange. Significantly, at that time, as part of the overall modernisation of Japan (after being largely isolated from other countries for two centuries), the military and the education system adopted Western uniforms, strongly influenced by what was in use in Prussia/Germany at the time. Many schools - particularly those for boys - still wear a similar uniform today, including a high-collared, "Prussian" jacket.
Therefore, in some ways, I wouldn't necessarily say that wearing a suit in Meiji-era Japan was particularly daring. I suppose that it might have been if you lived in a more rural area, but in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, it would have been quite fashionable, particularly as the Emperor himself had started wearing Western dress on many occasions, had encouraged his cabinet to dress similarly, and had introduced Western school and military uniforms.
I don't really see why Japan would be singled out as the subject of such an article, as whilst Japan's experience of being a closed country for a couple of centuries, and of then being subjected to rapid modernisation (and Westernisation, in certain respects) is somewhat different from other Asian countries, many countries that had different types of traditional dress, such as China, Taiwan, Korea and so on, all now wear Western clothes as a matter of course.
Just as an Englishman puts on a suit to do business, so too does a Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean man.
Furthermore, when an Englishman puts on a suit to go to work, he does not think of the centuries of development that resulted in the style of clothing he is wearing - he simply thinks that it is an appropriate piece of clothing to wear to work as it makes him look formal and businesslike. Similarly, when a Japanese or other Asian man puts on a suit, he does not think that he is being culturally oppressed, nor that he is denying his cultural heritage and history, nor even that he looks particularly Western - he simply thinks that he looks businesslike.
