Wearing A Kilt in Japan

Why should he feel obliged to explain it to you? The fact that you find it inexplicable is your concern, not his.

If you consider clothes for what they are, bits of cloth wrapped around our bodies, then the idea of what is "normal" and what is "abnormal" falls apart. These are just human projections. There is nothing innately normal about a pair of trousers compared with a kilt.

You guys are reading too much into some of these posts. Can't we simply wonder what OPs motivations are without being called xenophobic or accused of hating? The OP hasn't mentioned any kind of formal event or wish to express their culture, so I'm assuming he wants to wear it while everyday sightseeing. And again in regards to the original question, if you wear a kilt around town you can expect that people will notice simple because it is not common. I, and others, are not saying don't do it, just that the answer to the question is that you will be noticed if you do.

If you consider clothes for what they are, bits of cloth wrapped around our bodies, then the idea of what is "normal" and what is "abnormal" falls apart. There is nothing innately normal about a pair of trousers compared with a kilt.

Until you put that clothes into a cultural/historical context and then it becomes very clear what is considered normal (common) and what is abnormal (uncommon). Try, for example, replacing traditional clothes with exotic foods.

Hi Tilt,
The OP is not obliged to explain to me why he wants to wear a kilt in Japan. As i said i am just wondering what motivates him to do this (Maybe he comes up with a good explanation/reason that makes me wear also a kilt or anothe national dress, during my next visit to Japan.)
Butch

I did try replacing with fruit...
and it works just the same.
try this:
In Japan a kaki is normal(common) whereas a papaya could perhaps be considered exotic (abnormal ? ..not sure but OK).
Then travel to Peru and the reverse is true...
a kaki would be considered exotic and a papaya is normal. So we see that judging fruits by normality is only an external human projection not an innate quality of the fruit.

Makes more sense to discuss eating apples vs eating stones.
anyone?

B. Slager, thanks to the the internet and Google, that sort of question is easy enough to answer.

Here is one site that offers some insight into the mind of kilt-wearing inclined. I am now inclined to wholeheartedly encourage the original poster to be a man and wear a kilt in Japan. Hopefully he will look like the man in the camo-kilt, but I digress. Here is the site:

http://www.kiltmen.com/

Gilesdesign,

In Japan a kaki is normal(common) whereas a papaya could perhaps be considered exotic (abnormal ? ..not sure but OK).
Then travel to Peru and the reverse is true...

Exactly, its not innate but culturally defined. Put into a cultural context, kaki are common in Japan where they have been grown and consumed for hundreds of years, and uncommon in another country where they don't have the same cultural history. Just like how a kilt which is historically and culturally linked with Scotland is uncommon in Japan where it shares none of the same cultural/historical ties. You can't ignore the cultural context without failing to address the discussion at hand, namely whether kilts are common enough in Japan for people not to take notice of you wearing one.

Tilt,

Nice link. I think the posts here have been generally encouraging to the OP as well (even Jagoda's more or less said to go for it). As for myself, I'm gonna stick to my national dress... jeans, especially on those particularly blustery days ;)

Great website , at last we get some meaningful discussion on why someone might or might not want to wear a kilt in japan...comfort around male anatomy, cultural heritage etc. Excellent!
We can't base decisions on how common it is or not wanting to stand out. All these reasons are defunct.
Even if lots of people are doing the same thing, at some point someone has to decide why ... like I'm going wear this kilt because I think it looks nice.
This school of decision making that decides the merits of things depending on what is considered normal or most common or going to stand out the least is what is rotting modern japan... everything from crippling innovation in business to bullying in schools.

Interesting site Tilt .
But it did not give me the answer why the OP wants to wear the kilt in Japan. Does he want to show how brave he is or does he wants to draw attention (for what)? Or make some advertisement for Scotland? But now i am guessing. It would be nice if the OP just tells the reason for why he wants to wear a kilt in Japan.

BTW I do not mind what clothes people wear in public (sometimes it even freshen up the scenery) but forgive me that sometimes I have my thoughts on what I see.
BTW if i Google on �ekilts in Japan�f it brings me to this thread!!
Butch

We can't base decisions on how common it is or not wanting to stand out. All these reasons are defunct.

You're still missing the point of this entire thread. Its not a debate about whether or not the OP should wear his kilt. The consensus is pretty clear that he should if he wants to. Rather, his question was will it cause problems. Again the consensus is that at the very least you will cause interest.

Lets stop trying to turn this thread into a morality lesson on respecting others traditions and choices. Drumming up debate where no argument exists just throws the tread off track and obscures the information that the OP is seeking.

Ysmlf-(sorry can't remember the rest) it is late in Japan, let's get some shut eye and maybe we can dream about kilted tourists touring the country-side, a much more profitable occupation than getting overly worked up about this thread.

Good advice. But just to add before heading out, I would like to encourage the OP to wear his kilt as I think it will be provocative (as in stimulating interest, rather then the more risque definition) enough to expose the OP to the locals (no pun intended, it is indeed late) and start a dialogue. I've had a similar experience when travelling with a partner who has Yakuza style tattoos and it ended up being a positive, trip enhancing conversation starter.

First of all, I recall seeing a similar thread a long time ago, so perhaps anyone interested might want to look it up.

Secondly, I recall seeing a tall white middle-aged man walking in an authentic-looking Scottish kilt, and if memory serves me right, it was in Yokohama Station. Everyone was cool. In fact, as it is in a lot of cosmopolitan cities, no one even took a glance. I've also seen young men in Japan wearing kilts (or something like that) as a part of punk fashion, and everyone's cool about that, too.

My understanding as a Japanese is that practically everyone in Japan knows that the traditional costume of Scotland is the kilt. Many people think that "Men in Scotland play bagpipes and used to wear skirts" (which I know is incorrect) and a lot of people know that the authentic way of wearing a kilt is to not wear underwear (which I was confirmed through a serious TV show recently).

Either way, I see no problem about it (even if you don't wear underwear and carry a bagpipe). Gosh, what's the fuss.

Should I see a kilt wearing Caucasian in Japan it would look more natural to me --and likely to the Japanese--than the several Caucasians in Buddhist monk clothes I saw in Kyoto.