A Study on the Costume Culture in Hototogisu(1900)

This study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the costume culture at the time the modern Japanese literary work, Hototogisu, was written. The study analyzes costumes described in the novel and considers the contexts in which they are expressed, along with the contemporary costume culture. The following findings have been verified. The traditional knot, a kind of female hairstyle, varied depending on the age or marital status of the wearer: short hair for childhood, Osage[垂髪] for students, Shimada[島田] before marriage, and Marumage[丸髷] after marriage. It was impossible to infer the marital status of any females from the Western roll-up hairstyle. Kimonos worn by upper-class females were divided between modest and gorgeous ones. Dignified figures were often described to wear the former, while rich or young women with strong characters were often depicted wearing the latter. On the other hand, farmers were often described as wearing coarse cloth. Western clothing was not yet introduced for females; only Western hairstyles and some items were imported. The engagement ring culture was introduced and shawls were added to Kimonos. Males wore suits or the traditional costumes as their outdoor clothes, depending on their jobs. The representative traditional costume for going out was Haori-hakama[羽織袴]; whether they wore suits was important, but a common understanding of the details had not yet been established. When they returned home, they usually work Kimonos as roomwear. They often wore hats, bags, and shoes and carried walking sticks. Even people who wore the traditional costumes for going out had disheveled hairstyles and used some Western items, such as hats and bags. The social status of the wearers of such traditional costumes was determined by the clothing materials, and there were rain outfits used only for a specific job class.