3-053-496 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches in Yokohama, Japan, by our special artist: the old and the new, or change of costume in Japan, 1873. 'One figure represents the former costume untouched by any European influence. His easy-fitting coat of blue cotton has on its back some strange shapes or characters, looking like the heraldic blazoning of past times. His crown is shaven, and the small queue-like tuft has the appearance of a miniature cannon on the top. His legs are bare, and for shoes he has straw sandals. Contrast this man with the others. The gentleman with the Glengarry has completely transformed himself, so much so that anyone would suppose him to be a European. He has an Albert chain, and a watch in his pocket - the probability is that he belongs to some of the Government offices. Another figure has the wideawake and a pair of shoes - both ends of the man are altered, but all between is Japanese. An older man...has adopted the Inverness cape...it is a warm article of costume - but he still retains the old mode of wearing the hair. The figure on the extreme right is a policeman. The force here are dressed in neatly-made black clothes, of a military cut...The hat, although black in colour, is evidently copied from the Indian topé'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.