Figure 1.--These Japanese schoolboys wear palin jackets that button at the collar. This was before World War II a style almost universally worn by Japanese school children, although not in blue. Today it is retained by only a few private schools. Notice at this school even the book bags, socks, and shoes are uniform. The caps show a Japanese influence, we have not noted the style worn at other schools.

We note cadet jackets in the late-19th century and by the turn of the century increasingly commomn. A good example is Toba Shousen High School in the 1900s. These jackets are are very simply styled and button at the collar, giving a rather military look. The choice reflects the impression made on Japan by European militaries. There are some variations from school to school, but the baic style is very common. We call them cadet jackets. We are not sure about the Japanese term. These jackets are mostly worn at private schools at the primary level, but we ee some at state schools. They are much more common at secondary schools. These Japanese school jackets, like the blazers, are almost always blue. In fact we have not seen these jackets in any other color, but blue. We are not sure why blue is such a universally accepted color for boys' school jackets. They are often worn with military style caps adding to the military look of the school uniform. While not universal at secondary schools they appear to be worn at most. While the blazer is a post-World War II inovation in Japanese schoolwear, these style jackets were worn before the War. The color was, however, not unversally blue before the War. We see a few schools wearing light colored jackers, perhaps a summer style. I'm not sure why it was seen fit to change the color, perhaps so they did not look like the same color as army uniforms which was the case before the War. These jackets tend to be very plain. The ones shown here are three button jackets with out a breast pocket or badge. There appears to be two side pockets. The only embelishment the boys have on their jackets is a small pin on the collar, presumably the school badge. Two of the boys here have a kind of fob attached to a button hole and ruinning into their side pockets (figure 1). We are not sure what this is, presumably a set of house keys so afixed so they can't lose them.

Gakuran

Gakuran is the term for the boys' cadet style school uniform. The 'gaku' comes from the word for the students who wore the clothing--'gakusei'. The 'ran' in 'gakuran' is an abbreviation of the Edo period slang word for western clothing, 'randa'. It actually meant Dutch because while Westerners were prohibited from entered Japan, the Dutch were allowed a trading post. As a result, the Japanese world for the Dutch became a generalized term for Westerners. 'Randa' came to mean western clothing. The cap worn with gakuran looks to be a Prussian style cadet cap. Boys began wearing the caps from an eraly point, at first with traditional dress. The jacket with the high collar is basically a naval officer's uniform.

Adoption

We have not found a definitive statement of how this style became a the standard uniform at Japanese secondary schools. As best we can piece together, after the Meiji Restoration, a high priority was given to creating a modern education system. Along with this, promoting Western dress was seen as a modernizing measure. The Japanese began with first building a nation-wide primary system. Much of the population could not afford to buy special clothes who for the first time were attending schools. The teachers who were virtually all male were, however, ordered to wear Western suits and hats. While most of the initial effort went into building a primary system, the Japanese also began building a secondary system and founding universities. Here the students for the most part were from the upper and middle classes and the families could afford school uniforms, but at first was government issue, The first appearance of this style as a uniform was noted (1873). It was used in the Ministry of Works' engineer school dormitories. It was then adopted at The school uniform for the students in the engineer dormitories were government issue. It was subsequently adopted at Tokyo Imperial University (1886).

Styling

We are not enirely sure what the gakuran was based on. Some sources suggest that the gakuran cadet jacket was mainly based on the army uniform. We are not sure avout that. The gakuran looks to us mote like it us bvased on the naval unifoirm, perhaps because of its colors. Less obvious is the use of hooks rather than buttons and the navy blue/black color. Cadet jackets are are very simply styled and button at the collar, giving a rather military look. We do see military features like epaulettes. We do see some military features like brass buttons, but this is not as common as it once was. We also see flap pockets on some of the jackets. We see early cadet jackets with as many as seven buttons. More recently, three buttons seem standrd, at least for the younger boys. The jackets tend to be very plain. The ones shown here are three button jackets with out a breast pocket or badge. There appears to be two side pockets. The only embelishment the boys have on their jackets is a small pin on their left collar, presumably the school badge. Two of the boys here have a kind of fob attached to a button hole and ruinning into their side pockets (figure 1). We are not sure what this is, presumably a set of house keys so not afixed so they can't lose them. The principal variation in these jackets appears to be the collar. Early cadet jaclets had a kigh collar with no shirt like appendages. More ecntly they were still collar buttoning jackets with shirt-like pointed collars. We see a few boys wearing them as open collars with white shirts. This may have been a seasonal matter, but at any rate was not common. They were worn with the collar buttoned, in some cases with a hint of a white shirt underneath. We see a few schools with the collar of a white shirt worn showing over the jacket collar. The collar type of the white shirts varied, but this was not aeal common alternative either, perhaps because it took away from the military look.

Prevalence

The seecondary schools as they opened mostly had the students wear traditional clothes. At some a standard pattern was developed. From the beginning, many of the boys wore the Prussian cadet caps with their traditional clothes. The secondary system was very small in the 19th century. The Government after creating a primary system for virtually all the country's primary age children (1900s). And by the turn of the century increasingly commomn. A good example is Toba Shousen High School in the 1900s. Gradually we began to see the secondary schools adopting the gakuran uniform. Gakuran by the 1930s were standard at the secondary schools. A few primary schools adopted also adopted the style, moistly private schools. Boys at the state primaries were mostly wearing army-styled uniforms by the 1930s. This changed woyth Japan's surrender in the Pacific uniforms (August 1945). The Army uniforms disappearred in the primary schools. Despite the demilitarization of Japan, the gakuran uniform continued to be worn. Gakuran continued to be worn in the secondary schools. They were also worn at some primary schools, mostly private schools. The Gakuran became almos universal at scondary schools. Some secondary schools have adoped suits and blazers, but gakuran are still very common at Japanese secondary schools. They are not common at primary schools, but are still worn at a few. Gakuran today is primarily worn at secondary and middle schools. The uniform is now being replaced in some secondary schools, but continues to be widely worn.

Types of Schools

We see gakuran uniforms at all kinds of schools, both private and state as well as primary and secondary. Japan had no national regulations on unifirms. As farvas we can tell, schoolwear and uniforms were decided by the induvidual school. Thus we see these jackets at a variety of schools. Mostly we see them at public (state) middlle and secondary schools. They are by far the most common outfits at secondary schools. While not universal at secondary schools they appear to be worn at most. While the blazer is a post-World War II inovation in Japanese schoolwear, these style jackets were worn before the War. We see a few state primary schools with these uniforms, but not very many. We also see them at private schools, including private primary schools. The same basuc jacket is wiorn at both primary and secondary schools. The primnary differnce between primary and secondary schools is the pants, The jackets are basically the same, although the primary boys often werar short pants while the secondary boys wear long pants.

Color

These Japanese school jackets, like the blazers, are almost always dark blue, although actual shaes may vary. Some look almost black. In fact we have not seen these jackets in any other color, but blue. We are not sure why blue is such a universally accepted color for boys' school jackets. The color was, however, not unversally blue before the War. We see a few schools wearing light colored jackers, perhaps a summer style. I'm not sure why it was seen fit to change the color, perhaps so they did not look like the same color as army uniforms which was the case before the War.

Accompanying Garments

They are often worn with military style caps adding to the military look of the school. Primary boys did not always wear the cadet caps. Quite a few had the sift rounded crown hats. Secondary boys did wear the cadet caps. We notice some other cap styles with the blue cadet jackets, but they were not very common. Before World War II boys did wear Japanese Armny unifiorms. The cadet jackts were commonly worn with short pants at the primary level and long pants at the secondary level. This was a school level matter not associated with seasonality. Hosiery and footwear varied. We see the boys in short pants wearing both white and blue done as knee and ankle socks. We also notice both black leather shoes and white sneakers.

Gender

Many schools where the biys wore the gakuran/casdet jackers were single gender, private schools like the school here (figute 1). The cadet/gakuran jacket was an exclusively boys' style. It was not ewirn by the gurls. We have seen no exception to this very strict rule. The cojnteroart to the gakuran cadet jackret for the hirls was a sailor outdit, a white or blue middy blouse with three-stripe detailinga pleated shirt, usually blue. Ye w have noticed a gakiuran-like outfit foir the girls. It does not feature the gakuran collar, but we notice it being worn at a few schools where the school has a a gakiuran jacket uniform for the boys. We do not know if this unifirnm was adopoted with at an all girls school. The girls would not have worn the matching cadet cap with this outfit, but rather a hat of some sort, with a soft fabric hat or a medium brimmed felt hat. These hats were also worn by boys, but with gakuran, the cadet hat was the most likely choice.

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Created: July 19, 2002
Last updated: 2:17 PM 11/3/2020