Uniform culture is pervasive in Japan, common not just in schools but also in a variety of professional settings as well.
Italy, on the other hand, has no such uniform-wearing tradition. I’ve never once seen a student on a Milanese street corner wearing one—nor carrying the standard-issue rucksacks common in Japan. And while they all have backpacks, school rules force them to take all their personal belongings home with them along with their textbooks (making the packs too heavy to shoulder), so it’s common to see students with rolling backpacks these days. And the packs come in every possible design, so every student chooses their favorite color, style—some are even decorated with popular animated characters. You even see parents carrying the packs back and forth sometimes—though it may be because the amount of supplies the kids need these days has grown so much.
I was surprised to see a person in Milan carrying a Japanese-style rucksack, once. It was an Italian woman in her 20s or 30s. She had a black one and we ended up in the same supermarket checkout line.
Without thinking, I blurted out, “Oh! You have a Japanese rucksack!” She turned around with a happy look on her face. I didn’t ask her about her passion for Japanese culture, but she did tell me that she had one because she found it functional, easy to use, durable, and cute. But since they’re made for children, the shoulder strap was too short for a grown woman to carry it on her back, and she just held it in one hand instead. I figured she at least knew that the red packs were for girls and the black ones were for boys, but the woman with the black Japanese rucksack was simply taken in by the stylish look of the black one.
One of the first things that surprised me when I was learning about situational dress in Italy was what people wear to funerals. Not only are they not required to wear mourning attire, but in most cases they show up to a wake wearing the same thing they would on any other day. This is true even of the family and relatives of the deceased.
I have memories of Japanese funerals being unbelievably tedious affairs. In addition to all the hassles involved in attending one, they also involve all kinds of other unpleasantness once they begin—like kneeling formally while your legs fall completely asleep. Italy, on the other hand, holds Catholic funerals. They’re not unlike the mass ceremonies that are held at churches every Sunday. It’s over in an hour or so, after which the attendees go outside to talk to and console the bereaved family members and see off the hearse. So simple!
Back to uniforms—even bankers and post office employees rarely have them, instead just manning their windows wearing whatever they want. Sometimes I can’t even tell whether they are properly dressed or not. That said, if there’s a party or other evening event with a dress code, you’ll almost surely be well-informed about it in advance.
I guess it’s all just another facet of the Italian national character…
