OUTDOOR GEAR.
Boots and shoes _versus_ clogs and sandals—Inconvenience of
foreign footgear—Shoes and boots at private houses—Clogs and
sandals able to hold their own—How clogs are made—Plain clogs—Matted
clogs—Sandals—Straw sandals—Headgear—Woman’s hood—Overcoats and
overdresses—Common umbrellas—Better descriptions of
umbrellas—Lanterns—Better kinds of lanterns.
European clothes are, as we have seen, replacing the Japanese male
dress in schools, public offices, and other quarters, and are checked
in their advance only by the unaltered state of Japanese homes. In the
matter of footgear the case is almost similar, only that boots and
shoes have superseded clogs and sandals to a far greater extent than
coats and trousers have the _kimono_. For people in foreign clothes
almost invariably wear foreign footgear; it is only in wet weather
that one sees sometimes a Japanese in European clothes walking through
the mud in clogs instead of boots; and a great many in native clothes
wear boots and shoes. There are plenty of people who go in _hakama_ to
schools and public and private offices; but where these buildings are
in foreign style as most of them are, people are not allowed to enter
with their clogs, and the only alternative is that they must wear
sandals or boots. But as the sandals cover the feet with dust in dry
weather and with mud in wet, many persons prefer to walk in clogs and
change them for sandals at the school or office; but as this means
that they must leave at the entrance their sandals at night and their
clogs in the daytime, they run the risk of losing them. Hence, there
is a steady increase in the number of those who wear boots or shoes,
which if one gets used to them, are easier to walk in than clogs or
sandals.
Boots and shoes go very well with the _hakama_, which, being loose and
wide, does not rub against them; but they are not so convenient when
we are in _kimono_ only. The leather, by rubbing against the
_kimono_, wears it, especially if silk-lined, much more quickly than
do clogs; for in a Japanese dress it is not the thongs of the clogs
so much as the socks that rub against the lining of the _kimono_. And
these socks naturally wear it out more slowly if they are of calico,
and not of cotton.
In going into a Japanese house, one has to take off the clogs,
sandals, boots, or shoes; and consequently it is more convenient to go
in either of the former two as they can be slipped off without the
least trouble. And also, as the socks are visible in wearing clogs, we
seldom go out in shabby ones; but when we put on boots or shoes, we
not unfrequently forget there is a hole in the sole of a sock, or it
may be that we put up with worn-out socks believing there would be
no need to take off our boots until we come home, and then, being
suddenly called by business to a private house, we repair thither and
on pulling off our boots, see with dismay the toes peeping out of the
socks. Another disadvantage of boots when we visit a private house is
that felt in winter, which has already been referred to in a former
chapter; that is, though there are braziers for the hands, no
provisions are made for the feet which are soon benumbed through
the socks, which however thick they may be, are not so warm as the
Japanese socks, especially when the latter are under cover of the
_haori_. Still, boots and shoes are often unavoidable when we pay a
chance visit; but then the boots should be elastic-webbed, for if we
call with laced boots on, the servant who answers the door has to wait
patiently in the draught until we take them off. The situation is
aggravated when the visitor leaves; for then the host and his servant,
and if he is a friend of the family, the wife and the children, will
come to the porch to see him off and remain there until he leaves the
house. If the caller has any tact, he will merely tuck in the laces
and walk out with his boots flopping and tie them when he is out of
the premises. Many visitors, however, think nothing of keeping the
whole family shivering in the cold while they leisurely lace their
boots, for probably they too are put to the same ordeal when they have
visitors in laced boots. For their greater handiness in this respect
shoes were at first almost exclusively worn; but now boots are
supplanting them to a large extent on account of their superior ease
in walking.
As these disadvantages, then, attach to boots and shoes when we wear a
_kimono_ or visit a Japanese house, clogs and sandals are able to hold
their own against the invasion of foreign footgear, and are likely to
continue in favour so long as we are obliged to go indoors barefooted
or in socks only, which means, while the interior of Japanese houses
is unchanged and people squat on mats instead of sitting in chairs. As
it will be a long time before the interior can be Europeanised, the
clogs and sandals will for many a year to come remain the national
footgear of the Japanese. Our description of the Japanese dress would
therefore be incomplete without a reference to the clogs and sandals.
To begin with the clogs, they are either plain or matted. A plain clog
consists essentially of a piece of wood, oblong or with rounded ends,
just large enough to cover the sole of the foot, and supported by two
flat, oblong pieces of wood, running from side to side and one behind
the other. The sole-piece has three holes, one on each side just
in front of the hind support and one in the middle in front of
the forward support. A thick thong of hemp is passed through the
side-holes from above and the ends are tied together under the
sole-piece; the part on the upper face of the sole-piece, which is
covered with cloth or leather, is just long enough to be stretched out
to the third hole; a similarly-covered thong is passed through a hole
pierced in the top of the first thong and its ends are pushed through
the hole in the sole-piece and tied in a knot on the nether side. The
second thong thus holds down the first, which is separated from the
sole-piece by a distance just enough to pass the toes between them. In
wearing a clog the toes are slipped in under the side-thong and the
top-thong is held tightly between the big and the second toe. The
side-thong presses on the joints of the toes and prevents the clog
from slipping off. If the top-thong is gripped tightly, the toes will
naturally be bent and press down the fore-end of the clog and, the
top-thong acting as a fulcrum, the hind-end will press against the
heel. Thus, there will be little difficulty in walking in clogs. But
if the grip be relaxed, the hind-end will drop and, in walking, be
dragged on the ground; and as it will hurt the toes to be always in
tight grip, the clogs are very often merely hanging on to the toes and
are consequently dragged along. It is this dropping and dragging of
the hind-end which makes the clogs clatter so noisily on the stone
pavement and wooden flooring.
[Illustration: PLAIN CLOGS.]
Plain clogs vary in height; they are cut out of a single piece of wood
or else have the sole-piece made separately from the supports. Those
for rainy weather are five or six inches high; the supports are made
separately and fit into grooves on the nether side of the sole-piece,
and the thongs are covered with leather. There is a toe-cap to serve
as mud-guard, made of thick waterproof paper or leather and held down
by two pieces of twine from its ends, which are tied behind the hind
support. There is a similar kind, much shorter and without a toe-cap,
which is put on in fine weather. But the favourite form with men at
present is cut out of a single piece of wood; the thongs are covered
with cloth or leather, preferably the latter. The rain clogs for women
have their edges and nether sides often varnished black.
Matted clogs are mostly of a single piece; the two ends are rounded;
the under-side of the toe-end slants downward so that the part
touching the ground is a thin, angular edge, while the hind support
is comparatively thick. The hole for the top-thong is enlarged on the
nether side so that the knot of the thong can be enclosed in it and
a metal cover tacked on it to keep the knot clean. This is a wise
precaution, because the top-thong is the weakest part of the clog; if
one stumbles, for instance, the thong is strained and often snaps, and
it has to be renewed. The matting which is woven fine with rushes, is
tacked on the sole-piece. In the clogs for women the hind support is
large, being of the same form as the hind-end of the sole-piece and
leaving just space enough for tying the thong ends. In those for young
girls the supports touch each other with a cavity within for tying the
thong ends; these clogs are painted black, brown, or red; and those
for very little girls have often tiny bells in the cavity, which
tinkle as their wearer toddles along. There is another variety for
women, in which the hind support is mortised as in the rain clogs. The
thongs are covered with leather or dark-coloured silk or hemp cloth
for men, while the coverings for women are mostly of silk, cotton, or
hemp cloth, the commonest being heavy woven silk, plush, velvet, and
velveteen, and those for girls are usually of red or purple
velvet or plush. Clogs, especially of the better kind, and thongs are
sold separately, and they are fitted while the customer waits. The
best clogs are made of paulownia wood and those of inferior quality
are of cryptomeria and other common wood, while the supports, if made
separately, are of oak for better qualities and beech for inferior
ones.
[Illustration: MATTED CLOGS.]
Sandals are made of matting or straw. Matted sandals are the lightest
and easiest to wear of all footgear; but they are apt to cover the
feet with dust in dry weather and to become sodden and muddy in wet
weather or after rain. They are comfortable only on dry hard ground.
Common sandals are lined on the sole with strands of hemp. Another
variety has a thick wooden sole in lateral sections so as to allow the
matting to bend freely. But the sandals of the best quality, which are
at present very popular and known as “snow-sandals,” though
they are unfit for walking in the snow, have soles of untanned hide
with a flat piece of iron at the heels to prevent their slipping;
but the feet, especially if socked, slip on the smooth matting unless
the thong is held very tightly, which defect renders these sandals
unsuitable for fast walking. Still another kind, also very popular, is
lined with caoutchouc.
[Illustration: MATTED SANDALS.]
Straw sandals, on the other hand, are fitted for running or long
walks. The thongs, which are of straw, are tied over the toes and
around the foot just over the ankle. Though these thongs are apt at
first to cut the feet if unsocked, they are easy and comfortable when
one gets used to them. They are worn by coolies and others whose
business it is to be constantly on their feet. Unfortunately, they
soon become sodden in rain or over a muddy road; but as they are very
cheap, they are frequently changed in a long journey. Cast-off
straw sandals are among the commonest sights on the road on a rainy
day.
[Illustration: STRAW SANDALS.]
Next to the covering for the feet, the most important article of
outdoor wear is the headgear. In the old times a majority of the
people went bareheaded; and even now hats are often worn for
appearance rather than from necessity. Except in very cold weather,
there is little difference in the temperature within doors and
without, and one does not feel it necessary to wear a hat in the
open air. There are still people who go about bareheaded except in
midsummer and midwinter. With European clothes we naturally wear
hats, but with Japanese clothes there is no such invariable custom.
However, the habit grown with foreign clothes has passed on to the
national dress, and now bowlers, wideawakes, chimney pots, Panamas,
straw hats, and caps are in their season to be seen everywhere. The
hats used in the old days served as sunshades no less than as mere
head-coverings. Of these the black-varnished, wooden hat, shaped like
a flattened cone, which was worn by the military class, has entirely
disappeared. Street-vendors and pedlars still wear in the summer heat
large, flattish, round hats of bamboo-sheaths, which are light but
very fragile, while mushroom-like hats of spliced bamboo covered with
white or black cloth are extensively worn by coolies. A rush-hat deep
enough to cover the whole face but with a peep-hole for the eyes,
which was formerly worn by samurai out of employment to avoid
recognition, is now worn for the same reason by fortune-tellers at the
roadside and by prisoners under trial on their way to the law-court.
Convicted prisoners, however, wear the mushroom-hat.
[Illustration: OLD HEADGEAR.]
Women wear nothing on their heads except in midwinter for fear of
deranging their elaborate coiffure. The large chignon is as great a
protection against heat, cold, and wind as any European bonnet. In
winter, however, women wear a hood of _mousseline de laine_ or crêpe
lined with common silk. It is oblong in shape, being five feet
long by about two wide; it is folded in two and at one side, about a
foot from the fold, the edges are sewn together for an inch. The loop
thus formed is the face-opening. The hood is put carefully over the
head so that the face is visible at the opening, and a loop of string
on either side of the fold is passed over the ear to keep the hood in
place; and the ends of the hood are brought forward, folded loosely
over the nose, mouth, and throat, and tied together behind on the
neck. The hood which lies lightly on the head can be taken off without
deranging the hair to any extent. Women are expected to take off the
hood when they meet an acquaintance in the street, though they omit to
do so if he is an intimate friend. The hood keeps the head, neck, and
shoulders very warm.
[Illustration: A HOOD.]
At one time shawls were much in vogue and worn together with the hood;
but they have of late fallen out of favour. Their place is taken by
“azuma-coats,” which are overdresses worn over the _kimono_. They
resemble the latter in form, except that they are looser and have much
wider bands which come down to the skirt and dispense with gores
altogether. In the latest forms the sleeves are very large; the front
is double-breasted with the throat open; and the overlapping parts
button at the breast by means of a loop and knot and are tied at the
hip with a string. They are made of silk. They are vulgarly known as
“rag-concealers,” as many women put them on when they go out to hide
the shabby dresses underneath. Men’s favourite overcoat for the
_kimono_ is a kind of Inverness cape, with a long skirt to cover the
_kimono_ and large arm-holes for the sleeves. These are also made of
wool. Among the lower classes there are still men in Tokyo who wear,
as do peasants in the country, a straw rain-coat which covers the
body and the sleeves, but leaves the legs bare; they are unpleasant
neighbours in an electric car on a rainy day. The majority, however,
especially coolies, messengers, and postmen, put on a coat shaped like
the _haori_ and made of waterproof oil-paper or rubber-cloth.
There is a great variety in umbrellas. The Japanese umbrella, as
may be seen from the innumerable samples to be found the world over,
has bamboo ribs and stem and is covered with oil-paper and
surmounted with a thick paper cap into which the ribs run. It is
a heavy clumsy article; and it cannot be used like the European
umbrella, in place of a walking-stick in fine weather, as we should be
afraid of knocking the cap off if either end touched the ground. It
has to be carried with the handle downward after a rain to let the
water drip off. Its only advantages are its cheapness and its size as
it is large enough to shelter the whole body from rain. The common
kind, such as is used by servants going out on an errand and by the
poorer classes, is of plain oiled paper marked with the name, usually
the first syllable, of its owner, and his trade sign if he is an
artisan or tradesman, and sometimes his address as well. It can be
readily identified; and one cannot therefore put up, as if it were
one’s own, in broad daylight an umbrella with one’s neighbour’s name
and address plainly written on it. Besides, as these umbrellas are
very cheap, it would be hardly worth while making off with them.
[Illustration: AN OVERDRESS.]
Umbrellas of the better sort have black caps with concentric rings in
black and red on the covering, though light-yellow rings are also
to be found among them. They are known as “serpents’ eyes” from a
fanciful resemblance thereto of these rings. They are, however, being
superseded by foreign umbrellas with iron ribs and cloth covers which
are more convenient to carry. Gigantic umbrellas are sometimes set up
for shading street-stalls. Sunshades resemble the “serpents’ eyes” in
form, except that the paper is not oiled and the centres and rings are
blue or white; but they too are going out of use. The sunshades which
find such a large sale abroad with gay pictures and flowers painted on
them, are used in Japan by children only, especially by little girls.
The streets of Tokyo are ill-lighted. Street-lamps set up by the
municipality are comparatively few; and what light there is in most
streets comes from the lamps hung over the gates and front doors of
private houses; and where these houses are far apart, one has to walk
in absolute darkness. Hence, at night many people carry lanterns to
light them over ruts, mire, and diggings. The general make of the
Japanese lantern is too well known everywhere to need special mention.
They are all collapsible. The simplest and cheapest form used
by wayfarers is the telescopic lantern, which is often given at
tea-houses and restaurants to their customers when they wish to walk
home. It is cylindrical when open, and the diameter of the body being
less than that of the top and bottom which are made of a thin piece of
wood, the body is concealed between them when closed and the lantern
can be readily carried in the pocket. It is held by a string attached
to the top. The lantern used by coolies and errand-boys is similarly
shaped, but of stronger material, and has a bow, the ends of which are
fixed to the top and bottom to keep the lantern stretched. The top is
not open as in the other, but has a hinged lid which when closed,
keeps out the wind. The lantern commonly carried in the streets is
spherical and has a bamboo handle attached to the top by a piece of
wire. The lanterns which are so extensively exported abroad are
similarly shaped; but the red or red and white kinds are in Japan hung
only at festivals or suspended in festoons over shop fronts at opening
sales and on other special occasions. The lanterns used by tradesmen
and artisans, are commonly marked with their trade or firm names in
large black characters on the body, while those of private families
are adorned with their crests.
[Illustration: LANTERNS.]
There are also round and bulging kinds, sometimes quite spherical and
sometimes more elongated, stretched out by a bow and having a hook
attached to the top, so that they can be carried about or hung on
to bars. They have also lids like the coolies’ lanterns. They are
especially used at fires; indeed, they form a distinctive feature in
the confusion and disorder which invariably prevail on such occasions.
There is another kind, known as the horseman’s lantern, which is
spherical, with a roof over the top which is open; the handle is of
lacquered wood, within which is a piece of whalebone with its end
attached to the lantern, and by means of this whalebone the handle can
be lengthened at will. This lantern is also used by foot-passengers
among the better classes. All lanterns have a round nail sticking up
from the centre of the bottom, on which the candle is fixed; for the
Japanese candle which is made of vegetable wax, has a hollow paper
wick. These candles have, when they are set in a candlestick, to be
snuffed from time to time; but the swing of the lantern facilitates
the combustion of the wick, and the candles rarely need snuffing when
they are being carried in the street.