Do you that rustling noise? It's the sound of millions of Japanese students, mostly in junior high and high school, changing from their summer to their winter uniforms. Today is the day for koromo-gae (koh-roh-moh GA-eh), meaning "seasonal changing of clothes," when Japanese students will switch from their light uniforms for summer to their heavier uniforms for winter, which they all do on the same day, from Kyushu to Hokkaido. (Okinawa, being extra warm, gets to wear their summer uniforms for two months longer than the rest of the country.) Of course, the weather doesn't always get the memo, and at the end of September it got really cold in Japan, forcing my son to go to school shivering in his summer uniform...and of course, now that the uniform change has come, it's gotten really warm again, so he'll be sweating. Like many aspects of Japan there's more to the clothes-changing custom than meets the eye, and it turns out that it dates back to the Heian Period (794-1185), when the Emperor would commemorate the seasons by officially changing his ceremonial kimonos from winter to summer or vice-versa. Of course, J-List sells authentic high school uniforms for guys and girls, including both summer and winter versions of girls' uniforms, which are custom made to your exact size by the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya. If you'd like to own a cool high school uniform of your very own, browse our site now. Yes, there's plenty of time to get your uniform made and shipped to you by Halloween, although it's a good idea to order quickly.
3 comments:
konnichiwa!
Your blog is cool!
Is it common sense to chanfe uniforms at these dates or is ist actually a school rule (an you could be punished for if you dont comply to it)?
thx for responding =)
Cílla, thanks for the comment. I see you're in Barcelona -- I've been talking with people from there all week it seems. That's a very nice city, I went there with my wife, who loves Gaudí, of course since she's a Japanese woman.
Zenton, the schools tell the kids when to change uniforms and everyone does it at the same time. I'm sure some kids forget but when I suggested to my son that he wear whatever one he wanted based on the weather, he looked at me like I was crazy. Really, when everyone is doing something exactly the same way it seems like it'd be difficult to break. I do that just by being here but I also find myself conforming. For example in San Diego, I'd often drive with my convertable top down in January even though it got quite cold, and just run the heater. Can't do that here though -- people will stare at you so much that you find yourself going along with everyone else.
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