The Black Sebiro

Sebiro, after Savile Row, is the Japanese word for suit. In that word is much of the economic future of classic men's clothing.

While marketing deficiences have caused a decline in the number of suits we see on the street in the United States, 125 million Japanese are the world's important opportunity for many quality English and Italian men's clothing makers. As arguably the first Asian country to develop a modern economy, Japan is also very influential. Its every move is watched carefully by its neighbors in Korea, Taiwan, and lately China. And, despite efforts to the contrary, Japanese men wear suits to do business.

In 2005, Environment Minister Yuriko Koike informed his countrymen that Japan could slow global warming by turning down their air conditioners and curbing power consumption. It needed only to ditch the suit in warm weather. Few seem to have followed him.

Journalist Kay Itoi writes that her Tokyo commuter train is still full of dark suits. ""Nobody I know is switching to Cool Biz," shrugs my friend Izumi, a 44-year-old businessman at a software firm. Even Hideaki Tagata, 31, who came up with the catchy "Cool Biz" in a nationwide naming competition, won't doff his tie. "I'll think about it when everybody else does," the sales chief at a Tokyo building-maintenance firm tells me.""

Of course, the suit-wearing tradition did not arrive in Japan without modification. Those dark business suits tend to be black three button models with a high button stance like the one pictured to the left. It's worn with all three buttons buttoned. Fortunately, Japanese dandies have moved well beyond the black sebiro.

I regret that I can't read Japanese to get the full flavor of classic men's clothing there. The country appears to support more bespoke shoemakers than the U.S. and U.K. combined. Magazines like Mens Ex, Men's Club and Leon have more pages of high-end clothing coverage than we see anywhere in the English-speaking world. But even without the language, there are ways to enjoy what men in Japan are wearing.

Buried in Style Forum's Comprehensive List of Links to High-End Shoes thread is a thoroughly enjoyable set of links to Japanese shoe and clothing photography. The text is usually in Japanese but the photos are universal.

In particular, Jun Kuwana's Cobbler's Site has a better collection of photos of bespoke shoes by London's George Cleverley than are on that company's own site. It's got tailored clothing photos as well. I eventually commissioned a jacket from England's Fallan & Harvey after first viewing photos posted there.

Of course, it wasn't black.