Figure 1.--The Gyosei Elementary School wears a summer uniform of grey shirts, grey short pants, and dark grey socks. It is the same uniform worn by the other students.

The summer uniform looks to be grey shirts and short pants (it's realy more of an olive green than a gray but you can't tell from the picture, of course) worn with black three-quarter length or kneesocks that the boys never pull up--unlikely in Japan. The uniform is distinctive because most other schools with uniforms have white shirts and gray or navy shorts.

Origins

The summer uniform looks to be sinilar to a uniform worn in New Zealand where the boys wear matching grey shirts and short pants during the summer. It was probably based on European school wear duringbthe 1950s or 60s.

Figure 2.--The summer uniform looks very much like the summer uniform worn at New Zealand secondary schools, with the exception of the dark socks and formal shoes.

Uniform Regulations

The choir appears to be very strict about the uniform. All thevboys appear in the exact same uniform, even the length of the short pants is about the same for each boy. They also wear identical socks and shoes and eacgh boy has neatlu polished shoes.

Garments

Details on the Gyosei summer uniform is as follows:

Cap

Many Japanese schools require the boys to wear caps. The Gyosei boys, however do not wear caps.

Jacket

I do not think that the school reuires a jacket as part of the summer uniform.

Shirt

The summer uniform shirt is a simple grey short-sleeved shirt worn with an open collar.

Tie

The school does not require a tie, even for choir perfornmances.

Short pants

The boys wear grey short pants matching their shirts. They are the short cut shorts that Japanese schools boys have worn for several decades. The shorts have belt loops.

Belt

The boys all have belt buckles with the French flag. This is attributed to the founding of the school by French missionaries. I'm not sure what the boys wore during the nationlistic period leading up to World War II.

Socks

The boys all wear black ankle socks.

Shoes

The boys all wear the same boot-like shoe worn with the winter uniform. They are required to keep them neatly polished.

Figure 3.--All the boys have French flag belt buckles. Some of the boys wear awards on their collars and shirt pockets.

Awards