Appropriate clothing in Japan?

Hello. I don't want to make any fashion faux pas while I'm in Japan. I've heard a few rumours and I hope to get them cleared up.

1) Necklines - I never wear incredibly low-cut shirts, but I have a few v-necks. Are these okay so long as cleavage/lady parts aren't incredibly put on display?

2) Length of shorts - People are saying that short-shorts are a nono. I have shorts that are ... somewhat short as in above the knee, maybe half-way down my thigh , but nothing super short. Would these be alright to wear?

Anything else that I should not be doing would be appreciated.

Thank you very much!

Gooday, I'm not a girl but I travel with some and I've admired a few in Japan. I think a lot will depend on where you are going and (ahem) what you are packing. The shortest shorts I've ever seen were on various young ladies in Kanazawa, they were so short they made my eyes water. Generally these were worn with tights (and knee high boots or those furry leg things) but I saw a girl in Kyoto on a very hot day with just the hot pants. That was probably the most skin I've seen on a j-girl. My wife and daughters wear shorts as well, no problems there although I have caught a few j and k-guys snapping pictures of their bums with their phones, the older the guy the less subtle he is about it. As for the tops, I think j-girls tend to cover up during the day at least, you'd generally see a bit of shoulder maybe though they layer their clothes. I've seen a few western women being a bit out there in the chest department and I think it looked out of place, and not really in a good way, but you dont have to dress like a nun.

Hi NekoRowan

One of the remarkable differences between what Japanese young girls wear while walking and what women tourists visiting Japan wear, is a difference in the quality of clothes. Here in Japan (particularly in central Tokyo like Harajuku), you will see even in mid-summer many young girls are walking along a street with wearing fashionable and sophisticated clothes produced by a famous designer, tall high heels, and fancy accessories you have never seen (these accessories might look something like cute Hello Kitty goods for you).

It is often said among people living in Japan that most tourists visiting Japan wear too simple "relaxed" clothes like cheap off-brand T-shirts. Such cheap clothes might be good for your countryside trip, but when you walk around a central Tokyo district, Shibuya or Harajuku, you sometimes may find yourself to be out-of-place.

Generally, people here in Japan are rather tolerant about girls' short hot pants "only if" they have slender and long legs. Women having slender and long legs are considered to be someone with envy. Are you proud of your legs? Do you think your legs are beautiful?

In contrast, they are not tolerant about your tops. Too short T-shirts showing bare midriff are not recommended, particularly for fat women having a flabby stomach (they don't like to see a flabby stomach. In Japan, flabby stomach is something disappointing).

By the way, could you show me your clothes by taking a picture ? If you show me some of your clothes, I can advice you more.

NekoRowan,

If you are coming to Japan on your holiday/sightseeing (meaning not attending a school or coming for a job interview, for example lol), what you've described is completely fine. I assume you are coming pretty soon during warm/hot season, right?

I would not worry about the "quality" and stuff mentioned by a guy (immediately above), I know plenty of Japanese young girls wearing stuff that looks like it might (or actually does) fall apart after one wash in a washing machine... it's not that everyone is wearing high street, high quality fashion. You are going to be here for your holiday, come in what you feel comfortable in. Enjoy your stay!

I've heard what dosanko has said as well. One person I talk to who lives in Nagoya told me what most tourists wear in Japan is considered home cleaning clothes for the Japanese and they'd never be caught wearing something like that outside the home.

When I get back home, I'll post a pic of someone walking down Omotesando and you'll see how short her shorts are.

It all depends on your age and purpose...well, and maybe your figure.

Japanese dress up when they leave their homes, and you will not find any less groomed male/females/elder/youth in the city.

If you dress up in the city less than formal but more than casual, you will fit in well.

Japanese are specific in what they wear - according to seasons; what they eat- according to seasons and health.

e.g., different slippers for indoors, toilet, no slippers on tatami mats etc is common practice in every household

You are going to be here for your holiday, come in what you feel comfortable in.

Both thumbs up for this advice!

In response:

- I'm studying abroad there (my purpose)
- I'm rather thin (no flabby stomach)
- I would never wear something that shows midriff.
- I'm a pretty modest dresser

If that helps.

Hiya again.

- I'm studying abroad there (my purpose)
- I'm rather thin (no flabby stomach)
- I would never wear something that shows midriff.
- I'm a pretty modest dresser

hmm, it seems to me that your clothes don't have a big problem. Because you visit Japan not as a fashion model, but as a student, don't be so nervous. Japan is NOT a Muslim country where severe clothes regulation is required socially. Basically, you can wear almost everthing except controversial tiny clothes of Brazillian samba dancers.

Several months after you reach somewhere in Japan, you will notice a cultural difference between what most tourists wear in Japan and what ordinary Japanese girls wear while walking outside, as mentioned above by John B digs Japan. At first, enjoy your school life, then adjust yourself slowly to your friends.

Take look at these YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psk6eqwoZd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3AebKC0Nwc
This is popular South Korean girls band T-ara (my favorite South Korean band). Like T-ara girls, young girls wearing short hot pants, tall high heels and fashinable tops can be seen everywhere in South Korean and Japanese cities.

If you visit Shibuya, Harajuku or Omotesando of central Tokyo, you will see young girls wearing weird and controversial fancy dress, but as long as you study at a school in rural Japan, you can spend most of your days with wearing off-brand T-shirts (sooner or later, your friends will kindly show you what to wear in your daily life).

At last, before visiting Japan, I recommend you to cut all hairs on your armpits and legs enough. As you may not know, almost all young girls here in Japan take care of their eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit hairs and other hairs almost everyday to keep their body clean. It is often said among the Japanese that women tourists in Japan forget to cut their armpit hairs. Womens' armpit hairs are taken to be something very disappointing for most Japanese people. Due to cultural differences, cutting armpit hairs enough might be more important than what to wear.

These are short shorts, so short in fact, you can barely see them. This was taken in Omotesando between the Meiji Dori and the Harajuku bridge, close to Laforet.

[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/ushikawa/IMG_0355.jpg[/IMG]

It is often said among the Japanese that women tourists in Japan forget to cut their armpit hairs.

It must be some specific bread of armpit hair loving Caucasian females, who visit Japan in hordes. Because I cannot remember the last time I saw some hairy Caucasian armpit, leg or anything else for that matter. Worse - no pubic hair these days either! I miss that.

Japanese girls' dressing tend to be more conservative on the top and more daring below.I feel the opposite- the revealing top is "sexy" and too much below is "dirty". Aren't these dressing styles more appropriate at home. Matured ladies around Shinjuku 's Takashimaya dress trendy, decent and with really good quality. Everyone there look like actress to me.

It is often said among the Japanese that women tourists in Japan forget to cut their armpit hairs.

I've never heard a Japanese person say this, nor can I remember seeing a western tourist who would be an example of it, in over a decade living in Japan.

It's just as unusual to see a woman with armpit hair in my home country as it is here, so it's not a cultural thing specific to Japan at all, dosanko.

A few years ago a Japanese lady from my home town in Canada went back to Japan after being away for 30 years (insert here a messy life story). We went to Japan on the same plane, dressed as I never saw here before, with a flowing dress, lots of lace, a hat, high heels etc. she told me her sister and husband were wealthy and never went out less than perfect. I was dubious, as she had not seen them, nor written or phoned them in 30 years..

Sure enough...they were wearing plain jeans and T-shirts..definitely not expensive duds..the Japanese are like everyone else..some dress well, others not at all..

As for the young girls on Omotesando wearing expensive designers duds, bags etc...that what's sugar daddies are for...

Check these mags for young people: http://www.fruits-mg.com/xnew/e/index.html

Hi again, NekoRowan,

So now I see it that you're probably coming as a senior high or college female student and you want to be accepted at school. That sounds pretty important for a girl :)

Well, may I suggest that on your first day you should either wear those pants you discribe or a skirt that is a little bit shorter than your knees. V-neck with no midriff showing sounds reasonable, but be sure to wear a bra, and you can carry a light shirt or cardigan with sleaves just in case. This is pretty much the "standard" look for a high teen girl. No teacher or student will frown upon you as long as you're dressed like that.

Then you can look around to see what "group-types" wear what, and you can adjust yourself to your favorite kind of people, be it the common cleavage-display or the popular short shorts.

On a related note, at least me and my friends did often talk about female foreign tourists, or actually, females mostly living abroad enjoying natural armpit hair. But I think this may have been a fad that was more popular a couple of decades ago, mainly in places like France or among naturalists in the U.S. And there's always the debate of whether it looks sexy or ugly. Either way, Japanese high teens nowadays tend to trim their body hair well.

Well, I just got back from Japan a week ago after a 3 week vacation and my general observation after travelling around some is that Japanese people are generally pretty well-groomed, even when dressing casually. Not to say they necessarily wear expensive stuff (I can tell the difference) but they obviously take some care to put things together and look on the smarter side of casual, at least in cities.

It's more about the cut and how you put it together than the actual clothes, I think. Also where you're going and what you're doing. I wore a lower neckline in a club or at a concert than I would going sightseeing in the daytime for example.

Basically dress appropriately for your age and the situation, is the best advice. Cropped trousers and capris seem pretty popular across the board with women over there in the heat, and also footless tights/cropped leggings with shorts or short skirts is ubiquitous. But you don't have to go overboard and dress to the nines, just try to look like you care about your appearance and I think you'll be perfectly okay.