Women of the Orient. Boye Lafayette De Mente
alt=""/> SHAPELINESS AND ELASTICITY
Japanese girls owe their trim figures in considerable part to their traditional diet, which consists mainly of rice, vegetables, and seafood. This diet, plus the fact that the Japanese have always been extraordinarily active in work as well as the pursuit of pleasure and recreation, has given the women another important advantage over most Western girls. This is a wonderful elasticity of body which makes it possible for them to have children and, without effort or concern, rebound to their original slender selves.
It is difficult to say how much the general absence of obesity and protruding pots among Japanese women contributes to their popular image, but it is undoubtedly considerable. Unfortunately, the diet in Japan, particularly in urban areas, is changing rapidly, and as it becomes more like the American diet the women will no doubt lose this valuable asset. For the time being, however, the body elasticity of Japanese girls is one of their most attractive attributes.
The kimono is one of the most feminine and sensual articles of clothing ever devised, but because it is a rather complicated costume consisting of several layers and a number of bands and cords, it is difficult to put on and tiresome to take off. This somewhat negates its other attractions for the admiring girl-watcher.
The yukata, however, is an entirely different matter. The yukata is one of the most seductive garments a woman can wear. Originally an undergarment for the kimono, the yukata was first used as a nightgown and bathrobe. Then an enterprising craftsman began making them out of thin decorated cotton to be worn as an outer garment. Soon they were serving not only as bathrobes, sleeping gowns, and house robes but also as the national leisure costume, and often as a work uniform as well.
The importance of the yukata to foreign admirers of Japanese girls can hardly be overemphasized. This importance centers around its use as a bathrobe and sleeping garment, as casual streetwear in resort spas and on the occasion of festivals and parties. Because it consists of only one layer of cloth and is thin, the yukata is a much more intimate garment than the kimono ensemble. This intimacy is heightened considerably by its connection with the bath and bed, and because girls often wear nothing under it.
To fully appreciate the yukata's contribution to male-female relations in Japan, one must participate in its use in the home and in one of the country's fabled hot-spring resort spas. The Japanese are great bathers. No matter what time they return home or check into an inn, if the weather is hot and muggy or cold and damp (and it usually is one or the other) and a bath is ready— and it usually is—they will strip and bathe. If it is still early and they are at leisure, they will often then don a crisp, cool yukata for the rest of the day, even going out in it if the trip is short and casual. In the summer when one is lucky enough to be invited to a Japanese home as an overnight guest, he is almost always invited to refresh himself with a hot bath and then provided with an attractive yukata to put on afterward. This is one of the most delightful and civilized customs ever developed. What it does to establish an atmosphere of friendship and intimacy between a man and a woman is exhilarating to say the least.
The yukata probably renders its maximum service in the hundreds of resort spas dotting Japan, to which the Japanese flock by the millions on weekends and holidays. Most of these spas feature natural hot-spring mineral baths. Others have mineral water that is heated. Both types are invariably located in areas noted for their superbly beautiful scenery. Whatever the type of bath or location, the yukata is the common ingredient that adds just the right atmosphere and flavor to the adventure.
The ritual is more or less the same in every spa. Guests include company groups, clubs, and couples— honeymooning or romancing. As soon as a guest arrives at a ryokan (inn), he is shown to his room, served tea and sweetened bean-paste wedges, provided with yukata and directed to a bath—which may be family-style for couples who want to be alone together, or the large ofuro for those who enjoy mixed bathing with lots of company. Following the bath, the guest puts on his yukata, and it remains the uniform of the day and night for the rest of his stay—except in the event he plays golf.
There is nothing quite like a Japanese spa ryokan in any other country, and a weekend spent in one with a convivial companion is an experience to be cherished. The resort town of Ito on Izu Peninsula about two train hours from Tokyo—one of over 1,200 similar resort spas in Japan—attracts tens of thousands of men and women seeking fun and relaxation over a single weekend. Shortly after arriving, all have bathed and dressed in yukata and are engaged in the pursuit of pleasure of one kind or another. No matter what kind of recreation the revelers may begin with, the atmosphere of the spa, the inn accommodations in which groups share rooms, the intimacy generated by thousands of freshly bathed people in the sexy yukata in one small area, plus the romantic traditions of such areas, have a wonderfully exciting effect that generally leads to thoughts of love.
A worthwhile addition to any list of girl-watching spots in Japan would be one of the major spas, such as Ito or nearby Atami.
The clothing a Japanese girl is wearing has considerable influence on her behavior. If she is wearing a kimono or yukata she tends to conduct herself according to traditional patterns, regardless of the occasion. In addition, she not only feels more feminine, she looks and behaves more femininely when dressed in either garment. Part of this is because the kimono and yukata are so restrictive in nature they make it difficult for the wearer to behave in a masculine way without mussing up the costume and appearing very vulgar. The other factor is mental. The girls associate the kimono and yukata with the manners and values of old Japan, and while they are wearing them they are strongly influenced by these standards.
The combination of a kimono or yukata and such traditional surroundings as a famous ryokan located in a resort noted for its scenic beauty and romantic history is especially effective in bringing out the femininity of Japanese women. Men in Japan are well aware of this effect and make regular use of it in their romantic peccadillos by purposely taking their girlfriends to such places.
One advantage the typical Japanese girl has over her Western counterpart in the matter of dress is that she is generally more concerned about her appearance and the impression her clothing makes. Very few Japanese girls deliberately dress sloppy. When they go casual, they generally do so with a keen knack for knowing what men will find attractive.
Most Japanese girls also gain a special advantage from Western-style clothing because it generally looks better on women who have slender builds and are not over 5 feet and 6 or 7 inches tall. Japanese girls are often especially attractive in form-fitting casual and sportswear.
As a result of the unusual interest Japanese girls have in fashions and dressing well, dress-making schools abound all over the country. Fashion shows are as popular as bargain sales. In Tokyo, for example, dozens of department stores, dress-making schools, apparel shops, and design studios stage fashion exhibitions several times a month, so that on any day there may be as many as forty or fifty well-publicized shows going on somewhere in the city. As a rule, Japanese working girls skimp on food in order to spend more on attractive wearing apparel, and the results are immediately obvious to the girl-watcher.
If the girl-watcher is in Japan during summer, he would find a visit to one of the large beach areas especially rewarding. The swimwear industry in Japan is very advanced, and the girls have taken to bikini suits as if they were made for each other.
To the Japanese of old Japan one of the primary goals in life was to achieve harmony within the self and in relations with those around them. Among the means by which they traditionally attempted to achieve this harmony was strict adherence to an elaborate code of etiquette. Eventually they went so far as to equate "proper" manners with virtue. Present-day Japanese are no longer