The Good Old America (3)

Omotesando, Aoyama, and the Influence of American Culture

In the 1960s, several second-hand clothing stores along Omotesando and Aoyama sold U.S. military surplus jeans and garments. Even as an elementary school student, I wore Levi’s and LEE jeans that my mother had purchased cheaply from those shops. Around the age of 14, when I was in junior high school, young people dressed in a distinctive style could be seen walking along Miyuki Street in Ginza. They were known as the “Miyuki-zoku.” Their style was that of students from America’s Ivy League universities — known simply as “Ivy,” a term derived from those prestigious schools.

VAN Jacket and the Rise of Japan’s Ivy Culture

At that time, Kensuke Ishizu was quick to introduce this fashion from the United States, creating the brand “VAN Jacket,” which became a nationwide sensation. Button-down shirts, back-buckle chinos, penny loafers, duffle coats, and Indian Madras jackets — these elements of the style are still considered traditional today. Known as “Trad” in Japan, this fashion was originally imported from the United Kingdom via the United States, carrying a distinctively American scent.

Changing Youth Fashion Over the Decades

Youth fashion changed dramatically in the years that followed — bell-bottoms, London boots, long hair, and hippie fashion emerged, evolving through the Vietnam War era. As these new trends took over, the number of young people wearing “Trad” styles on the streets declined. At the time, I thought that perhaps no one in the United States dressed in Ivy style anymore.

American Trad Lives On in the East Coast

However, during a pre-conference seminar for PITTCON held in Atlantic City in the early 1980s, I visited Waters headquarters in the suburbs of Boston — and to my surprise, every employee I met was dressed like an Ivy Leaguer.

Diverse Regional Cultures in America

The United States is a vast country, and each region — the West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast — has its own distinct culture. The cultural diversity shaped by different ways of life is something one cannot easily grasp while living in Japan. On the East Coast, “American Trad” was still very much alive. Today, with the evolution of information technology and globalization, the world feels smaller than ever. Yet the cultural influences we are exposed to in our early years remain with us as we grow older. Perhaps this is another example of epigenetics at work.

Continued in “The Good Old America (4)”