Morning Commute Scenery

I pass through Shinagawa Station in Tokyo on my commute every morning, and the scene I saw when I stepped onto the platform one day (which I still see every morning) remains etched in my memory.

That day, during the morning rush hour, I was riding in the last car, thinking I might find a slightly less crowded spot. Although my destination was a different station, so many people get off at Shinagawa that I had to step out onto the platform with the flow of the crowd. That was when I looked across the entire platform from the edge.

Black short hair, dark suits with white shirts, black leather shoes, and similar business bags. People dressed exactly the same were walking in lines toward the ticket gates.

Yes, the entire station was "black."

Because it was a cloudy, dark day, the blackness of that crowd stood out even more.

There used to be a term called "corporate warrior," but in Japan, to literally become a warrior, there exists an implicit norm that you must suppress your individuality. One of those norms is the rule regarding appearance. Not standing out from those around you and maintaining an appearance that fits the surrounding atmosphere is considered good manners.

This is synonymous with "conforming to the majority." For example, if you were the only person wearing black clothes when everyone else was wearing white, you would naturally stand out, but there should be nothing wrong with wearing black clothes itself. Conversely, if you were the only one wearing white when everyone else was in black, you would stand out as well.

In Japan, since everyone is wearing white (or black), you are expected to wear the same color or a color that makes it difficult to perceive any difference.

However, common sense and implicit rules change with the times. For example, male office workers used to only wear white shirts, but now various colors like blue and pink have emerged. This, too, is a form of change.

In this way, "appearance rules" are nothing more than something without substance, based solely on a specific time and space.

To return to my story, the crowd I see during the morning rush hour—"black short hair, dark suits with white shirts, black leather shoes, and similar business bags"—is the result of everyone following the aforementioned "appearance rule" (which posits that not standing out is correct).

And to continue following those "appearance rules," one must numb their own sensibilities, such as "I like this" or "I dislike that." If you are insensitive to your own feelings, you can adapt to these appearance rules that demand such uniformity.

I believe this is an example of how organizations control the mind and body to regulate their members. It is difficult to manage an organization if its members are sensitive and honest about their own feelings. To prevent opinions that might hinder organizational operations from emerging, both schools and companies first establish appearance rules to control the body, and then transform the mind (thoughts, ideas, and values) to fit the organization.

As it is often said that "the mind and body are connected," when the body is trapped, the mind is also trapped, and when the mind is trapped, the body is also trapped.

Company employees face various stresses, and I believe one of them is the limitation of freedom of mind and body. It may not be discussed as a major issue very often, but the restrictions are particularly strong regarding appearance.

For men, as mentioned above, it is dark suits, white shirts, ties (colors like gold are surely not permitted), and black (or brown) leather shoes, and necklaces or earrings have not really caught on. Basically, the appearance rules from job hunting are applied as they are.

As for women, they are not necessarily required to wear suits like men, and I feel that hair color, necklaces, and earrings are more accepted than for men. Because there are no clear rules as there are for men, there may be peer pressure among women at each workplace that is not explicitly stated or visualized (in that sense, it might be more complex and sophisticated than the appearance rules for men).

Of course, I understand that rules are necessary to regulate a group. However, I believe those should be limited to morals, manners, and compliance, and there is no need to strictly bind individual tastes and preferences.