1st Kilted outing in Japan

[auld argonian]

Let's hope that I express this in the spirit that it's intended...I love the Japanese People...find them just great...that being said, the fact that appearances, as you note, are so important to the Japanese actually should make your wearing the kilt quite acceptable...assuming that you observe all of the formalities of kilt wearing. I'm sure that any deviation from good kilted form will be noticed...not to generalize but it seems very "Japanese" to have a very good working knowledge of the ins and outs of all of the world's cultures and i wouldn't be suprised if you ran into folks who would know whether or not your gear was correct or not. In fact, I would think that wearing the kilt would be considered very right on and that you will get a lot of very positive feedback....smile and bow, my man, smile and bow.

...and don't forget your business cards!

...and be prepared to be photographed a lot...you'll probably have folks wanting to get into the shot with you so that they can show their friends that they met the kilted guy.

...and by all means try to go to Kyoto and Nara!

Best

AA

[Riverkilt]

You'd think the Japanese folks would be used to unbifurcated garments on men...weren't the samuri unbifurcated too?

We get bus loads of Japanese tourists here in the canyonlands. When my lady and I go out dancing at the local western bars they are always sneaking pictures of us. They don't ask, they pretend to be taking a friends picture and then sneak a sideways one of the funny man dancing in a kilt....at least that's what my lady reports...they like to take my pic from the back with the pleats swinging.

Ron

[Riverkilt]

Hey, an idea for Hank....we find out what the Japanese characters are for "Its a Kilt dang it!" and print them on the back of a t-shirt.

Maybe add my email addy at the bottom for the Japanese ladies back home who'll swoon looking at the pics....? Oh, no...sorry, my lady says, "No way!"

Still, a cool shirt.

Maybe a whole line of shirts for foreign travelers that says that in a lot of different languages...

Ron

[ByDand]

Must have been fun. I was kilted in DC a while back and a group of Japanese tourists had just got off of a bus when a group of young ladies came over to me and asked to have their pictures taken with me. After about 15 minutes of picture taking they thanked me, giggled amongst themselves and walked away. Very nice experience.

[auld argonian]

re: Ron's comments about being photographed...let me tell you a story...

The one time I was in Kyoto...and I saw the ONE time lest I give the false impression that I'm some kind of world traveler...I experienced a brief moment that I'll never forget.

We were headed to what turned out to be a really big drinking party (God, I love the Japanese!) that was on the grounds of a shrine that had a weeping cherry tree that was said to be hundreds of years old. Our group came to a very wide street...more like a boulevard...about four lanes in either direction with a big divider in the middle...extremely busy...traffic everywhere...people everywhere. Out of a small side street came...no foolin'...two Geisha in full regalia...they were going to cross this very busy street.

And time literally froze. I have never seen anything like it. Everything stopped. Every car...every pedestrian...everybody stopped and watched these two almost divine women cross the street. It took a while because they were taking very measured steps...between the restrictions of the ceremonial dresses and their wearing those wooden elevator shoes that you see in old block prints they had to walk very carefully. And everybody was standing there watching...like there was an opening in time and these two visions walked through it and no one was ever going to see anything like it again...and this was Kyoto...I figured that this sort of thing must be reasonably common but it wasn't...it was a gentle brush with the grace of a past time and all were affected.

So maybe there's a phenomena that also happens when some folks see some of us in the kilts...maybe, ideally, they get a sort of a vibe of the history attached to the garment and it stirs some of those deep ancestral memories...visions of times gone by. And I think that an appreciation of this feeling is more acceptable in some cultures and societies than it is in others and that Japan is one of those cultures where that is the case. Hard to reconcile the images of kilted men and geishas but...

So if the tourists are surreptitiously taking your picture, I'd take it as an appreciation of someone who's honoring his culture and heritage. Maybe they want to show the folks back home that there is still some diversity and color in this too homogeneous world.

Best

AA

[flairball]

I'm new to the kilted world, so I haven't had occassion to wear one in Japan yet. I know that kilts aren't new to Tokyo, as they have a St. Paddys day parade with pipers and the works every year. The rest of Japan might not be exposed to them as frequently. I think wearing a kilt in japan would be great. Though a few people might ask for a picture or inquire about celtic ancestry, I bet I'll get more questions, and comments from my friends over there. None of whom have seem me in a kilt. I'm such a newbie my friends here haven't even seen it yet. Got it on Monday. Wearing it right now. Anyway, comparing my experiences in Japan with what I know about life here (in Boston), I'd feel more comfortable wearing one over there, than many places here.