Under the strong influence of foreign cultures the government encouraged people to adopt western dress, customs and even changing the diet to include meat. By 1872 government officials and military personnel were required by law to wear Western clothing for official functions. Ordinary citizens, were required to wear a mantsuki kimono with the family crest kamon, on official occasions. Men were cutting off their topknot and side locks, started growing mustaches and beards as the Emperor did. In 1873, the Empress stopped blackening her teeth and shaving her eyebrows, and women were asked not to cut their hair short.
The regulations regarding Western dress were mostly related to men, who were regarded as the formal public representatives of both family and state. The implementation of a dress reform and Western etiquette was part of a strategy to improve Japan’s international reputation and achieve equality with the foreign powers. Demonstrating cultivation through the use of fashion was used to convince the population to accept cultural change. Under the advice of numerous etiquette books men were told how to wear Western-style suits and uniforms to embody Western power. Nevertheless fashion in Meiji Japan was at the time not part of society, but rather a masquerade to give the modern nation a Western civilized look.
01 Artist: presumably by Uchida Kuichi (1844-1875) who was the only photographer granted a sitting by the Emperor Meiji at the time. Artwork: 1872 – Portrait of Empress Shoken (1849–1914) in Western dress
02 Artist: Takahashi Yuichi (1828-1894) Artwork: 1880 – Portrait of Emporer Meiji, the ribbed jacket is nicknamed Rokkotsu Fuku
03 Artist: Chikanobu Hashimoto (1838-1912) Artwork: 1887 – Illustration of a bundle of hair with a wig.
04 Unidentified artist Artwork: 1897–98, Paper Doll Clothing
05 Artist: Adachi Ginko (1853-1902) Artist: 1879 – print of a kabuki play called Driftless Western Drama. It was revolutionary in its attempt to include a plot set in foreign cities such as London, Paris and, here, the Japanese consulate in San Francisco.