Men’s Club vs. the Miyuki Tribe
Just as the Miyuki Tribe hit the Ginza streets in June 1964, fashion magazine Men’s Club started to take notice. In the Summer 1964 (Vol. 38) issue, three separate columnists — Shiro Ito, Toshiyuki Kurosu, and Mickey Curtis — all wrote up short, mostly critical blurbs on these “swarms” of youth.
Shirō Itō wrote the most neutral of the three texts for his column “news for youngmen”:
“The Appearance of the Miyuki Tribe”
Roppongi is being dug up to build a subway, so it’s no longer any fun. If you’ve been thinking that the Roppongi Tribe was a mere shadow of its former self —well, here comes the Miyuki Tribe.
The “Miyuki Tribe” is a bunch of young guys and girls who hang out on Miyuki Street, mainly from Saturday afternoon to Sunday. The weekly tabloid magazines, who are always good at coining new terms, came up with the name. We’re just surprised by how many tribe members there are, and by this point, they’ve surely taken over all the streets and coffee shops in the vicinity. Miyuki Street has traditionally been Japan’s Fifth Avenue, but since the kids have shown up, the atmosphere has completely changed.
What’s interesting is the Miyuki Tribe’s clothing. The girls look odd —wearing extremely long printed skirts with flat shoes and a scarf—but the boys’ surprisingly serious Ivy look must be the influence of Men’s Club.
Toshiyuki Kurosu commented on the Miyuki Tribe men in his column “Ivy à la Carte.” Interestingly, Kurosu did not appear to know that they were being called the “Miyuki Tribe” at the time of the writing.
“Hey I’m talking to you, Bermuda Tribe”
I’ve noticed this summer that Bermuda shorts have grown in popularity among young men, especially among guys who like Ivy. Actually, I fear they’re a little too popular.
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, youth in Bermuda shorts have been swarming Ginza. They mostly hang out on the corner of Miyuki Street and Namiki Street.
Ivy meet-ups are fine, but these kids have made a big mistake on where to meet up. But before we even get to that, Bermuda shorts are walking shorts and not intended to be town wear. They are only allowed at resorts or on campus. Dressing up Bermuda shorts with a dress shirt, tie, and blazer — that dress up style is only okay at resorts.
Now there are hot parts of America, like the West Coast, where a lot of people can be seen wearing Bermuda shorts in the city and it’s completely allowed. In these cases, however, one has to wear long knee-high hose (also called long socks), because no one thinks it’s okay to show off your hairy shin right in front of others.
So what about this Bermuda Tribe in Ginza? Only a few of them are wearing hose. Most of them just wear cotton socks that can’t hide their shins. The very worst of them are in rubber sandals — but let’s not even put that into consideration.
I understand their perspective, though. They say there’s nowhere you can go to show off your Bermuda shorts, so you go to Ginza. In Japan right now, there are far too few places for young men to go out. But that does not mean you can be undisciplined and go out to Ginza in resort wear. So what should you do in this situation? For the times you want to wear Bermuda shorts in Ginza, there’s one condition: always wear hose. And if possible, dark colors like black or charcoal are preferred.
Ridiculous, isn’t it?
Finally, musician Mickey Curtis wrote about the young women in the Miyuki Tribe in his column “Without Portfolio.”
When I say, “the ghosts of Miyuki Street,” people are going to think I mean the kind of ghosts who say “boo.” But no, I’m talking about the recent trend of girls in long skirts. Where in the world did those skirts come from? No one knows, no matter whom I ask. They wear long skirts that look like they grew up from the ground, and what’s more, with printed pleats. On top, blouses like a sex maniac matched with a necklace and earrings from a gypsy beggar. And a neckerchief around their heads like they’re helping out at a moving company or doing housecleaning. On their feet, they wear flat, mangled, and worn down shoes. They used to say that people in Kyōto spend too much on their kimono and people in Edo spend too much on their shoes, so any Edokko seeing these shoes is going to cry.
The clothing on the guys walking around with them, however, is even worse. They’re wearing pants so high-water that you would mistake them for long Bermuda shorts. And they wear shabby vinyl raincoats and carry umbrellas. I don’t know why — Japan’s exceptionally sunny. Well, it’s the terrible things that become trends, whether it’s a long skirt or wearing a rain poncho on a very sunny day. Everyone, let’s get rid of the long skirts on the streets. No, let’s get rid of all skirts.
All translations provided by the author as reference material.
