In Japan most people wear uniforms or uniform like outfits
for school and work. Outside of these situations they wear clothing that appears
similar to what U.S. citizens wear but on closer inspection people begin to
notice small differences (some of these are depicted on the chart above).The
chart includes Europe, but the focus is on the Japanese, U.S comparison. For
Japan and U.S women showing your stomach is questionable to show. In the
graphic above it says, in Japan showing your shoulders is considered unappropriated.
While it is true that for Japanese teens and youth showing their shoulders is unacceptable.
For older women it is considered acceptable to show your shoulders as long as
you are not in a professional environment.
In Japan showing any
cleavage is very odd. For example in Japan there are even pieces of fabric
designed to attach to bras to hide cleavage, the Image to the right shows an
example of this.
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| Japan |
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| United States |
In Japan there are a few U.S. fashion trends that have been
accepted in to Japanese popular fashion. For example in Japan it is very common
to wear heals on a daily basis; while in and out of the work place women tend
to wear pantyhose and skirts. Finally in Japan they wear skirts more often than
U.S. women. In the U.S., on days off people tend to where leggings, jeans, and
sweatpants. On the other hand, in Japan most people still dress more formally on
days off. In the U.S., wearing leggings without a skirt is very popular. According
to an exchange student, from Japan visiting the U.S., "Japanese girls
don't wear leggings by themselves"(I am not adding her name for privacy
reasons). She was blown away when she first
attended a local high school. Girls were wearing leggings in place of pants.
Also in Japan it is very rare to see women or girls in a plain tee-shirt and
jeans, unlike in the U.S.
