CHAPTER X.

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 In the matter of footgear the case is almost similar, only that boots and shoes have superseded clogs and sandals to a far greater extent than coats and trousers have the _kimono_.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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.