Wearing A Kilt In Japan
 

I will be visiting Japan in November for 10 days at the end of the month. I am Scottish and regularly wear my kilt throughout the year I mentioned that I would be wearing it whilst travelling in Japan, and was told that most people would think, I was wearing a skirt, and would get unwelcome attention as a result.

I plan to travel during my 10 day visit and don't want to offend local customs or feel uncomfortable myself by being inappropriately dressed. I have had no problems anywhere else in the world, and imagine my friend ( a native Japanese woman) may be wrong.

Any thoughts/advice?

I think kilts are rare outside of the UK... you would get questionable stares in the US, for sure.

Some will understand, some will think it is a skirt. I don't think anyone will be offended, but you might get some questions that will be fun to answer.

Jonathon Davis (the lead singer of Nu Metal band KoRn) is known for wearing kilts, & he's American. I think with the whole Visual Kei culture & young people's fashions like lolita etc., you should be fine. Maybe learn a bit of Japanese to say that its a kilt, & is an item of clothing from Scotland, much similar to what the kimono (or yukata) is for Japan :)

Well surely it would be a great start to conversations.

why not wear it and be proud.

why shouldn't kilts be worn? IN the army the men with kilts and the Bagpipes scared the enemy to pieces I believe.

Be proud of National dress. a kilt represents the clans of scotland-- each clan has its own tartan. Be proud.!!

why the heck shouldn't the men wear them? considering the way many women dress up---


Actually kilts were popular not so long ago-- but instead of tartans they had varied designs and the men look great as their kilts swings and shows their gorgeous legs.

You see A LOT of kilts on the day of Scotland playing in an international football match

I don't think there is anything wrong with wearing kilts, but as said they are extremely uncommon outside of the UK, and even rare inside the UK for that matter. I wonder how it would be taken in Japan if someone wore a kilt. I imagine it would be like any place or country, that some people wouldn't mind and others might, which is probably why I - personally - would be unsure if it would be a good idea to wear one or not.

It's just that - because it's so uncommon - I know a lot people locally who would treat it as a joke or a laugh, or worse, a cause for aggression. I'm not saying those people are a majority, far from it, but it happens. I've seen people get mocked or bullied for the stupidest differences in appearance, and something like a kilt - which perhaps would be mistaken for a skirt, or treated as such - seems a lot more cause for attention. Even if that attention wasn' aggressive I could easily see some people making jokes or pointing or giving unwanted attention. I don't know about Japanese culture in specific in regards to this, but it just doesn't seem a good idea. . .

I happen to appreciate a man who can wear a kilt properly and regularly. but as has been said, outside of the highlands it's not a common sight.

I think the reaction you get, aside from stares (guaranteed), might depend a bit on how you look in it.

I have watched many a young, thin, attractive man looked at as if he was either cross-dressing or an outlandish rocker of some sort.

However, a older man of stouter build, perhaps with a fitting beard, seems to translate the look from skirt to kilt for almost anyone who has any stereotypical image of a Scot for reference.;)

I will first point out that I recently spent seven years living in scotland,and unless they were preforming with bagpipes,I saw maybe three people wearing kilts in normal every day situations.

Thing is,if you do some research...Kilts are actually Egyptian in origin. they were brough over by egyptian soldiers working for the romans.

Well, my b/f KuronUSA... we met in England but he had moved from Scotland and now is off at uni in USA. He said he would never be seen in a kilt but I am on a drive to get him into one at least at our wedding and...well...I find them sexy on men perhaps rather the way men find short skirts on women :D