Japanese School Uniform: Headwear--Gender Trends


Figure 1.--Many girls wear very similarly syled sailor dresses. This is most common at secondary schools, but some primary schools also have sailor dresses. The headwear to go with these dresses is quite varied. This contrasts with the fairly similar caps the boys wear with their cadet-styled uniforms. Here is a school in Kamakura during 1966.

We see Japanese school children wearing both the same headwear and gender destinctive headwear. The younger boys and girls commonly wear the same style caps and hats. This was the genderal convention in nursery schools and kindergardens. The general convention in elementary schools was to have gender destinctive headwear. Most of the schools we have seen have genderdestinctive headwear, especially the uniform schools. We think some primary schools may have the same headwear for the children, but we have not yet found examples. There are quite a few different styles of headwear worn at Japanese schools. Most schools had headwear of some kind, especially the uniform schools. . Older children usually have gender-specific styles. Here there is a wider variety of styles for girls than is the case for boys. Hats seem most common for girls and caps more common for boys. Not only are their style differences, but chin straps seem more common on the girls' hats. Many girls wear very similarly syled sailor dresses. This is most common at secondary schools, but some primary schools also have sailor dresses. The headwear to go with these dresses is quite varied. This contrasts with the fairly similar caps the boys wear with their cadet-styled uniforms.

Conventions

We see Japanese children wearing both the same headwear and gender destinctive headwear at various schools. The younger boys and girls commonly wear the same style caps and hats. This was the genderal convention in nursery schools and kindergardens. The general convention in primary schools was to have gender destinctive headwear. Most of the schools we have seen have genderdestinctive headwear, especially the uniform schools. We think some primary schools may have the same headwear for the children, but we have not yet found examples. This is most likely to be at the non-uniform schools. Often these schools did require the children to wear uniformn headwear, often brightly colored so they stood out in traffic. The students at secondary schools as far as we know always had gender destinctive headwear, commonly the cadet caps for the boys and sailor hats for the girls.

Styles

There are quite a few different styles of headwear worn at Japanese schools and most had gender connotatiins. Most schools had headwear of some kind, especially the uniform schools. And this was true for both boys and girls. Older children usually have gender-specific styles. Usually the differences are very obvious. Notice the differences in the school here. The girls have straw hats, the boys cadet caps (figure 1). In other instances the differences we see are more muted, such as using the same color. But thre are almost always differences. Here there is a wider variety of styles for girls than is the case for boys. Hats seem most common for girls and caps more common for boys. Not only are their style differences, but chin straps seem more common on the girls' hats. Many girls wear very similarly syled sailor dresses. This is most common at secondary schools, but some primary schools also have sailor dresses. The headwear to go with these dresses is quite varied. This contrasts with the fairly similar caps the boys wear with their cadet-styled uniforms.

Chronology

The headwear styles worn by boys and girls at Japanese schools have varied over time. From the beginning there wre different styles of headwear for boys and girls. We do not yet have much information in the 19th century. The new schools openened after the Mejii Resoration did not require uniforms (1870s). We note boys beginning to wear Prussian cadet caps with traditional garments (late-19th century). Girls school headwear is more difficult to assess in the early years because the focus in Japanese education was at first on boys. We know much more about the 20th century. We see many boys wearing Prussian cadet caps with traditional dress. Gradually we see Western-style unifirms replacing the traditional grments. We mostly see military styles during and before World War II. The boys wore cadet and army caps. The girls wore sailor hats. After the War we see much more varied headwear for bith boys and girls. The major change was ghst the uniform became a matter for each scjool to decide rather than determined on a national basis by the Ministry of Education. The army caps rapidly disappeared, but cadet caps and sailor hats continued to be worn at many schools. ome schools introduced baseball caps for the boys which becme increaingly popular in the late-20th century. We also see rounded crown hats,, Both boys and girls wore these ht. And we se boy boys and girls wearing a variety of soft hats. Other schools adopted a range of different styles for boys and girls. We have not yet noted any major changes in the 21st century.







HBC-SU






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Created: 5:36 AM 9/16/2006
Last updated: 10:57 PM 8/2/2012