Court uniform and dress in the Empire of Japan

The official court dress of the Empire of Japan (大礼服, taireifuku), used from the Meiji period until the end of the Second World War, consisted of European-inspired clothing of the 1870's.

When the Meiji Restoration began, those working to build the new government were wearing a diverse array of different clothing based on their social status during the previous Edo period.

Nobles had their ikan (衣冠) court wear and informal kariginu (狩衣), samurai had the distinct hitatare (直垂) and kamishimo (裃) dress, and members of Westernized military forces had their Western-style uniforms.

For example, during the Emperor's visit to Tokyo in 1868, opinions were divided between the high officials Nakayama Tadayasu and Date Munenari.

[1]: 12–24 The situation was clearly untenable, and so after the election of officials to the new government in summer 1869, the Minister of Justice Saga Saneharu was put in charge of the problem.

In a meeting of the legislature that winter, Iwakura Tomomi proposed deliberation over the court dress for governmental officials that Saga and his helpers had come up with.

In order to resolve this disorder, the Internal Imperial Command on Clothing Reform (服制改革内勅, Fukusei kaikaku naichoku) was released on October 17, 1871.

The "styles of that time" meant tight sleeves and narrow hakama, and so the order implied that Western-style dress, complying to these standards, had much in common with the essential garb of the Japanese themselves.

[1]: 24–45 Internal Imperial Command on Clothing Reform (服制改革内勅, fukusei kaikaku naichoku) It is Our view that those who form social mores are transient, subject to the whims of opportunity.

After the Peerage Act of July 7, 1884, divided the existing kazoku into five ranks, the Ministry of the Imperial Household further established the uniforms for these new subcategories.

[1]: 178–179 On March 2, 1908, an Imperial edict established substitute court uniforms for diplomats dispatched to the tropics or very hot areas.

Old news footage shows officials of the South Seas Mandate, including Kōki Hirota, in these clothes.

When Mitsumasa Yonai became Prime Minister during the Second Sino-Japanese War, his morning dress could not be tailored in time for the appointment, and he wore a naval uniform in its place at his official investiture.

Unfortunately, the designs they reported back were determined to be impossible to create in Japan's still-immature Western clothing stores and were not adopted directly.

Aiming to set clear and unified standards for the uniforms, the regulations were amended on December 4, 1886, by an order of the Ministry of the Imperial Household.

Pictures and diagrams were published in an official telegram, and related manufacturers were provided with sample illustrations printed in color.

According to the Regulations for Investiture (叙位条例, joi jōrei) of May 4, 1887, people possessing the junior fourth rank (従四位) or above were entitled to treatment comparable to that of titled peers.

An edict of the Dajō-kan on October 8, 1877, added black wool trousers, and a May 27, 1911, Imperial Household ordinance changed the hat plumage for those of fourth rank or above to white.

[1]: 65–66 However, the foreign government advisor Albert du Bousquet [fr] advised that the emperor of France wore a military general's uniform, rather than that of a civil official.

This made the Imperial Family's uniforms difficult to distinguish from those for court ranks, and so on October 12, 1876,[15] they were updated with chrysanthemum foliage scrollwork.

This order defined two levels of formal dress, changed the chrysanthemum foliage scrollwork to use a sakura motif instead, and specified fully closed mandarin collars.

In 1889, chokuninkan and sōninkan of the Crown Prince's Household got both formal and informal court uniforms,[19] and in 1891 escort dress was created for high officials in the Agency.

The attendees were Minister of the Imperial Household Hijikata Hisamoto, head of the Board of Ceremonies Nabeshima Naohiro, Master of the Palace Table Iwakura Tomosada [ja], Master of the Empress's Palace Kagawa Teizō [ja], the director of the Bureau of Imperial Mews at the time (name unknown), and the foreign advisor Ottmar von Mohl.

[1]: 200 [22] As a result, in the winter of that year, high officials involved in supply management to the palace and hunting were assigned their own uniforms,[23][24] as were various positions in the Bureau of Imperial Mews.