Was air travel a formal event, a semiformal or an informal event?
Thanks! What was the age requirement for men?
Was it different these days? Did the dress in commercial First Class differ from what they were supposed to wear daily in their offices?

Really! I'm going to Japan for the first time next month - will anyone care that I'm in jeans or khakis on intra-Japan flights?

I think a better question is: do you care?

If Japanese local custom is that locals wear suits that fine for them, but it does not apply to you. Would you be offended if a Saudi businessman wore a dishadash on an airplane between JFK and ORD? Or a Seikh in a turban between MCO and SFO? Or an African in one of those wonderful colourful tunics?

I don't know Japan well enough to say whether you'll be stared at, but I do know it well enough to say you won't offend anyone by dressing as you suggest.

If you did wear flip-flops... uggh!

The only reason "everyone" wears suits on Intra-Japan fligths is that "everyone" is going to a meeting or flying for some other work-related reason. I've flown domestic Japan mid-week and it was like this. I've also flown at weekends and it was much less formal as more people are travelling for leisure purposes. I was wearing jeans on both occassions and never felt self-concious or out of place (at least not due to my clothes!) Wear what you want. The biggest thing in Japan is to show respect through your actions, not through what you are wearing (within reason).

What about, offending the people the poster is flying to Japan to serve/deal with?

Someone notoriously got in trouble for being seen in an Aloha shirt in Hawaii. He was not even a Japanese, he was a Mongol.

Usually I couldn't care less what others think of me - but I do want to respect the culture of the country that will have me as a guest. I definitely don't want to be another obnoxious American assuming that every place is like the USA.

Actually I'm only going because I had some miles about to expire and wasn't willing to do anything to extend their validity :) Not going to see anyone in particular but still want to appear respectful in general, same as in any other country.

What is an Aloha shirt and why are they bad?

Thanks for the advice. I had assumed as much but thought I'd draw on the collective wisdom of FT just in case.

ahh so you are the me first generation.

There is a wide gap between what is acceptable to wear and what some consider aesthetically pleasing. Someone wearing clean clothes that cover all the proper parts of their body is not offending anyone (unless they were otherwise required to be wearing something else). If the airline does not require a person to soil and wrinkle their dry clean only "sunday best" riding in their cattlecars, nobody should be offended if a person shows up dressed in something else.

Mondays I travel in dress pants and a cashmere sweater, Friday afternoons its jeans and a cashmere sweater. I don't think that the fact that the textiles used for making my pants is different makes me any less acceptable for airtravel.

The dress code at my current client is jeans on Friday and often if you aren't wearing jeans people will ask, "Did you forget it was Friday?" One thing that most of the consulting world has picked up on is that you need to make your clients comfortable. Showing up every day in a suit and tie when they are a khaki/polo type of work environment actually makes an inverse impression; "I'm better than you". While its entirely appropriate to dress up on certain occasions: initial sales calls, big wigs in town... I'd say its better to make the client feel at ease with you.

When I was a very young child back in the early 70's, me and my brother flew unaccompanied quite often. I clearly remember my mom always dressed us up in our little suit jackets and trousers with our little clip on ties for a flight. From a child's perspective, at least in our family, flying even in coach, though common to us, was still a formal event on par with a wedding or some kind of special church service. No kind of airline rules, that is just how my mom was. I think that era was all over for us by '76-'77 when by that time it was jeans and a t-shirt.

Even today I still usually dress business casual on allot of Asian flights. Not because anyone would probably care that much if I didn't. Just in Asia I perceive that there are sometimes subtle differences in how you are treated based on how you are dressed. More so than the US, where I have flown more than a few first class domestic flights in camo cargo shorts, t-shirt and 'gasp' sandals.


Although by now Japan and most Asian populations with wide exposure to western visitors are pretty much hip to the fact that Americans are a little more on the casual side and think nothing of it.

Looking out my apartment window in Tokyo right this minute, I see how everyone's dressed. All school kids are wearing their uniforms, with tie, backpack and sneakers. The teenagers going to work are wearing their black suits, (sometimes with brown shoes, but that's getting better), and shoulder bag. Of course the business men and women are smartly dressed in their (mostly black - always dark) attire, with shoulder bag or briefcase. Even on weekends, suits are very common. Now I see someone standing out in jeans with no shoulder bag - oh yes, it's a foreigner. Japan is a country of conformity, people are respectful, rebels are noticed and people care what others think. I truly love this country and its people.

Dude, that's me!! hahaha

Agree!

For some odd reason I can almost hear the theme from The Andy Griffith Show as I read this thread.

I've traveled this route with Johnnie Depp and his family. Johnnie and Vanessa were quite "stunning" in torn jeans.:)