Figure 1.--The hosiery worn by Japanese boys is at least in part a reflection of the type of school attended. Uniforms are more common and the rules about wearing them stricter than at state schools. For some reason the rules about hosiery are less strict than for other school uniform garments. They tend to be strictest at private schools, but even here there is a degree of variety not the case for other garments. Mote the variety of hosiery here. Click on the image for a fuller discussion. |
The hosiery worn by Japanese boys is at least in part a reflection of the type of school attended. Uniforms are more common and the rules about wearing them stricter than at state schools. For some reason the rules about hosiery are less strict than for other school uniform garments. They tend to be strictest at private schools, but even here there is a degree of variety not the case for other garments.
Public schools (and I would guess about 1/3 the public schools require uniforms) typically have a very simple navy jacket (often without lapels) and navy shorts uniform. White shirts seem often to be required, but the type of shirt is often not specified. The most common color is white. Some of the school require white socks, some do not. I don't think most schools much care whether the socks are knee socks or not. I do not know of any public school that has a specific white knee sock requirement, although I believe a lot of them do require white socks of some sort.
Most private schools require uniforms, typically more elaborate than the very simple uniforms of public schools. Some do have specific sock requirements. A reader writes, "Keio Yochisha is NOT one of them. Boys wear socks of all colors and all lengths, as you can guess from looking at my picture. Keio has an optional unifrom ankle navy sock with red ring, but boys are not required to wear them and I don't see them much. The only school I know for sure with a knee sock requirement is Rikkyo (St. Paul"s) that requires navy knee socks. A private school near Myogadani stationhas a a white knee sock requirement, but just as often the boys in that uniform seem to be wearing ankle socks, although always white. Tsukuba has a uniform white mid-calf sock -- you can't just wear any old white sock--(and uniformed shoe as well which all boys wear.) Gyosei has a uniformed black ankle sock requirement (and uniformed black boot-like shoes)."
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