Attempts at Europeanisation—Difference between Japanese and foreign dresses—Expense and inconvenience of foreign dresses—Japanese dresses not to be discarded—How the female dress differs from the male—Underwear and over-band—_Haori_—_Hakama_—_Obi_—How to tie it—The dress-_obi_—The formal dress—Home-wear—Working clothes—The sameness of form—The girl’s dress—Dress and age. The late Prince Ito’s first administration which lasted from 1886 to 1889, was a period of great pro-European activity when heroic attempts were made to Europeanise the entire social organisation. The most conspicuous of these attempts were the strenuous efforts made to remodel the social life of the nation; and with that object in view, various social customs of the West were introduced. Balls and soirées were given in official circles and among peers and men of wealth. One of the direct consequences of this innovation was the eager adoption of the foreign costume by ladies of rank and position, whose example was soon followed by their humbler sisters. Women in European dresses were common objects in streets and at public gatherings. And it looked for a time as if the national costume were doomed. But it was not long before a reaction set in. A cry arose in various quarters for the preservation of national characteristics; and though there was a section of these reactionaries who would resist the introduction of western innovations in all departments of life, the general sense of the nation was to yield only so far as a change was necessitated by the incompatibility of the old customs with the new conditions imposed by the adoption of western civilisation. And among the first to feel the effect of this reaction was the western style of female dress; and our women fell back upon their national costume. It was as well that the reversion to the old style took place before the reforming spirit had gone too far, for, to tell the truth, the Japanese woman seldom appears to advantage in a European dress. If she looks graceful in her _kimono_, she cannot be equally prepossessing in a bodice and a skirt; and those who are charming in a western costume are the reverse in their native dress. The conditions which are needed to give charm to the wearer of the _kimono_ are totally different to the conditions which one associates with elegance in European dress. The former require rounded or sloping shoulders, for square ones would put the sides of the dress out of shape and interfere with the graceful disposition of the sleeves. The body should be bent forward, for if it were held straight or bent back, the dress at the breast and the knot of the _obi_ would suffer; and for the same reason full breasts are out of favour. The close-fitting skirt of the _kimono_ prevents the feet from being set far apart, and the wearer cannot take long strides. Her feet are turned slightly inward and makes her wobble a little as she walks. Such a gait would be very ungainly when a woman