24
May
In My Next Life, I Want to Be A Japanese Construction Worker
Topic: Japan 2007
Why? Why else - check out the clothes. You can wear puffy pants and glittery gold shoes like a rock star every day for work:
| [mpiphoto=330,left,scale,230] | [mpiphoto=331,left,scale,300] | |
| Photos from PingMag’s article Japanese Construction Worker Fashion. | ||
Like many other parts of Tokyo, our neighborhood near Shinagawa station is having a construction boom, so we see tobi (construction) workers all the time. Of course, their clothes aren’t quite as spiffy as those in the catalog photos above, but they’re not too far off. In the winter, when I was walking Kai to kindergarten at the same time every morning, we’d pass this burly guy on his way to work, and he always wore a hot pink tobi outfit.
My favorite part of the outfits are the tabi (toe-shoes). Looking like slippers, they are a far cry from American-style construction shoes. With their relatively thin soles, they also tell you something about Japanese construction sites - they’re tidy enough that you don’t have to worry about something like a stray nail poking your foot.
The tobi clothes are actually much more practical than they might seem at first:
On their wrists they wear a broad and firm wristband called Tekou. This is used not only to wipe off sweat, but also to protect your wrist’s vulnerable arteries when cutting things and to prevent the sleeves from getting into your way when moving around. On their feet they wear Tabi, the Japanese “toe-shoes”. There are all kind of different Tabi-shoes! Unlike the ones you wear with Kimonos, these Tabi-shoes have a rubber sole. Wearing Tabi makes it easy to sense the ground condition for construction workers. In addition to this, they dry easily and are very light. These days, there are even safety Tabi-shoes: with steel toe caps!
Now let’s get to the Tobi trousers: this shape is just amazing! (In fact many Japanese people identify Tobi workers by these special trousers.)
There are various theories why the lower part under the knee is pumped up like a balloon. The main reason, however, seems to be a simple one: the baggy pants make it easy to move, easy to bend, stretch and stride…
Right below the pumped up part, the trousers become narrow again in order to tighten up your calves. Why? Pressing the calves encourages blood circulation and helps you to work longer and to stand for hours without your feet swelling up.
[tags]Japan, construction, clothes, fashion[/tags]
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