M@Blog

I had dinner at Spago’s this past Sunday. It was a pseudo-reunion dinner with long-time family friends who were making their annual visit to Japan. With Spago’s being the world-class restaurant it is, I pulled out most of the stops and went slick-black with my favorite cashmere jacket. All six of us at the dinner table had class. So did most of the other clientel.

Except three Japanese men who appeared to be in their late 20s, early 30s. They were wearing t-shirts. Two black, one white. One even wore jeans. Each was on a date.

I know it sounds elitest of me to be a little annoyed, but at a restaurant the calibre of Spago’s, I would hope customers would have the respect of dressing appropriately for the environment. At least the women in each party understood where they were.

So I asked one of my colleagues at lunch today for a possible explanation, which was that most Western cultures have had the custom of “dressing up” far longer than in Japanese culture. This intrigued me, as there are varying levels of kimono quality, both for men and women. But then he made the point that not many Japanese families in fact go out for dinner. Without such experiences, how are the offspring to know when and where to wear what?

I guess I don’t fully buy the argument - there are many people who never grew up eating out at fancy restaurants with their parents, yet they have a sense of class and know when to dress up. Is there some egalitarian sensibility these Japanese men are misplacing?

And lest you think these men shouldn’t have to dress up just because it was Spago’s, remember - they were on dates!.

Wednesday, October 20th, 2004 at 2:30 am.
Filed under Japan, the sexes, tokyo life.
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