EY Y02 L27 Uniforms

  1. Many businesses and industries in Japan expect their employees to wear a uniform. Name one. Describe the uniform.
  2. Would you be happy to wear this uniform? Why?
  3. Have you ever had to wear a uniform at school, for a sports team or at work? Describe it.
  4. Was it comfortable wearing that uniform? Why?
  5. If you were a parent, would you want the school your child attends to have a uniform? Why?
  6. Teens in Japan often tweak their uniform to try to appear cooler. Tell me about one way they do this. Did you did this when you were a teen? How much did you rebel as a teen?

Question 1

One uniform that I particularly like is by a company called Transport Communication Sagawa. The delivery courier who works for Sagawa are expected to wear a uniform that has two tones, blue and white. I think it looks pretty cool!

Question 2

I can't imagine myself having to wear a bright-colored uniform! The clothes that I own are generally dark in color so I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing something that I don't usually wear.

Question 3

I had to wear multiple school uniforms thoughout my middle and high school years. It was very badly designed so I used to wear jacket on top of it! The motive of my middle school uniform is inspired by an Indonesian design or pattern called 'batik'. The two main colors were brown and cream with slight textures of red and beige.

Question 4

It was far from comfortable wearing school uniforms as it didn't represent who I am as a person and matches poorly with most types of pants that were allowed to be worn in our school. I donated my school uniform as soon as I graduated!

Question 5

I think school uniforms stifles one's creativity and ability of expressing themselves. I wouldn't want the school that my children will attend in the future to require them wearing uniforms.

Question 6

Teens in Japan are very creative when it comes to tweaking their uniform looks. The other day, I saw a high school girl wearing a Burberry scarf that must've cost more than 50.000 yen! I used to do the same when I was a high school student as I'm the kind of person who like to express myself in different ways.

Tough Vocabulary

- English - - Japanese -
courier 宅配便
expected 期待される
generally 一般的に
motive 模様
donated 寄付
require 必要とする