Social experiment and appearances...

Recently it was getting colder and I was in Joetsu...I decided to buy a cheap but decent-looking sport coat/evening coat that I could wear to work and for the occasional night out if I wanted to look or feel nicer than usual.

After wearing it and a couple people noticing and asking about it, I decided to make a bit of a social experiment out of it. I decided to simply pay more attention to my outward appearance and dress nicer on a more consistant basis to see if it changed the way other people interacted with me. I'm not saying I'm all GQ now or that I know a drop about how to dress nice, but just actually paying a little more attention and wearing the coat to work instead of a $3 button up shirt. I'm just curious about it in this country, because appearance is everything in this culture. Coming from rural New Mexico, not as much importance was placed on that sort of thing...and the rougher, laid back approach was what I grew up with and was comfortable with, because I was taught that people should be judged not by how they make themselves appear to others, but by the nature of their personality and integrity. I don't like to consciously put out the effort to try to impress somebody on a superficial level because I figure it is up to them to make honest judgements about people based on interactions, as I like to do. I remember my job at the opera, the way I dressed and looked at the daytime was probably not up to their tacit standards (what with the long hair and shaggy clothing) but I knew I was respected for doing a great job and that was what I was ultimately judged by. If I work there again, I do plan on dressing nicer because as I've gotten older I realize that it is important, especially at a high profile company, but I would never give the way I appear at my job more importance than the way I actually do it.

But in Japan, the fact is that people place much more importance on the superficial, and a first impression truly is everything. There doesn't seem to be much of an ability for people here to change their first impression of you, whether it be when they first met you or if it was just a rumour that influenced their view. It seems impossible to actually take initiative and trust their own instincts, and change their perception of you if what they originally thought was wrong. I've noticed that the westerners here have a better developed sense to say 'ya know, i was wrong about you, you are actually so and so' or whatever.

I've now been shaving everyday, sometimes twice, wearing decently respectable clothing, the infamous coat to work, tucking in my shirt and wearing my shiny belt, and trying the occasional attempt at color coordination.

The experiment has been on for a week or so, and the change from people has been noticeable, but mostly just comments; here are a few of the responses I've heard from students, friends and teachers:

"You look different!"
"Kakkoiiii! (japanese for 'slick duds, coolcat!')
"Why do you look nice?"
"Why are you wearing that coat to work today? Is there something special? You did not dress right last year"
"Nice jacket!"
"Looking good dude!"
"Where'd you buy that ridiculous coat? Uniqlo? You loooser! What is it with you guys and your stupid coats?"

So, until I get too lazy, I'll keep trying to see if people treat or react to me differently, and ultimately to see if I am treated with more respect and admiration simply because I'm wearing a coat. Also, I kind of like it and it feels nice to look decent, so I'll wear it for that reason too...