When I was an English teacher in Nagasaki, Japan in the late 70’s, a trip north to Tokyo was always exciting. Think Blade Runner– Japan in the graphically wild and bizarre 60’s and 70’s and for that matter, in our current era. Brilliant billboards, graphics and racing lights like those of Times Square, densely packed crowds, hidden temples and shrines, gorgeous and glamorous Ginza bars and restaurants, the high speed subways and railways in which I always got lost, the constant din of vendors advertising themselves aloud. I remember with pain the newly constructed Mister Donut chain, which sang “Ohayo (Good Morning) Mr. Donuts, Kon-nichi-wa (Good Afternoon) Mr. Donuts, Komban –wa (Good Evening) Mr. Donuts” in a high childishly feminine and piercing voice all day long. No, Tokyo was definitely not Nagasaki, where the Shinkansen (the Japan Bullet Train) had yet to establish a station.

In Tokyo, everything new and novel and fashionable was available. New books in English, foods, music, and fashions (Western and Eastern) were all available. And I seized upon them.

Japanese street fashion, 70’s: I also duly went to see what was described as a unique and unforgettable Japanese experience, the Takenoko-zoku, the “bamboo shoot tribe,” who wore bizarre and colorful costumes and sang and danced all day, in the fashionable neighborhood of Harajuku. I must have caught them on an off day—their numbers were few and their singing and dancing listless. Still, a cultural phenomenon.

Japanese “Ivy” street fashion, 60s: An earlier street tribe, the Miyuki-zoku, in the late 60’s, were much cooler. To my mind. They wore bizarre American Ivy League style clothing as they hung out in the Ginza. I missed my chance to see these guys, photos of whom show attitude like that of a young Rat Pack. This Miyuki-zoku tribe wore “Ivy” as an expression of rebellion rather than a desire to join the American establishment. Members of the Miyuki-zoku actually got beaten up and jailed for wearing “Ivy” just prior to the Olympics in Japan, when the authorities were concerned not to give the wrong image to the world.

Take Ivy-–iconic-Japanese images of Ivy League fashion, 60’s to present—now we’re bringing it forward into 2009, when the American Ivy League or preppy style is back in America and Japan, with a vengeance.

Quintessentially American, right? Not at all. As the New York Times’ David Colman notes, “It’s Japanese.” And the book that prompted it all is that “treasure of fashion insiders” Take Ivy, a collection of photos taken in the 60’s by Teruyoshi Hayashida, which has become a hard to find cult classic but is now being reissued in its entirety on August 2010. Hayashida comprehensively documented fashions at the eight Ivy League colleges, with a heavy emphasis on Dartmouth and Princeton, whose architecture, sports fanaticism, students who actually stayed up late to work, and proud letter sweaters apparently fascinated him. But whose fashion and sense of style obsessed him and ultimately obsessed all of Japan. (“The All-American Back From Japan,” David Colman. (New York Times, June 17, 2009)

What makes Take Ivy even more fascinating as a phenomenon is that the book was not a spontaneous demonstration of interest in American college campus fashion—the book was “commissioned by Japanese designer Kensuke Ishizu, the founder of Van Jacket, an Ivy League obsessed clothing line that was a sensation” among—essentially—first the Miyuki-zoku street tribe and then Japanese youth in general in the 60’s.  The ‘Ivy look’ became a basic clothing standard in Japan of the ’70s and ’80s, as the craze for American things like Levi’s and Red Wing boots accelerated.

But what also makes Take Ivy a treasure is the breathless, charmed and charming quality of its prose. Hayashida exemplifies the Japanese attitude that surface is all and that God is in the details. He is completely seduced by the smallest detail of Ivy League fashion, including fashion that wasn’t deliberate fashion (such as yellow rain slickers which to his mind provide important elements of color during the rain). There is not a hint of irony as he notes, that to attend an Ivy League school is a “dream-come-true experience.” Once there, wearing the right clothing with the correct attitude—and, oh yes, studying hard—these are the qualities that build the future masters of the universe or as he put it, “important world class leaders.” I am sure the lesson was not lost on his readers. Hey, he was right!

Let me take you into Hayashida’s world as he saw it, the world where Ivy League fashion made men and Ivy men made leaders. He tells us that he will include photos of students on college campuses but also of pedestrians in the heart of New York City, the shop windows of Fifth Avenue, the canyons of Wall Street, and the cafes and clubs of Greenwich Village. All are key components of Ivy. “Peaceful, yet full of life. That is exactly what the Ivy League is all about.”

In Take Ivy (said to be a pun on “Take Five” and to hint to the reader that the truly cool Ivy man is as familiar with jazz as he is with fashion) the word “classic” appears almost as often as “Ivy.” And is almost interchangeable. Hayashida takes photos of classic cars (a Packard and two Ford Model As—it must have been the very early 60’s), classic college buildings, classic libraries, the classic green of lush lawns and the ever present ivy, and yes, classic fashion. He is also approving of offbeat classic fashions which cross lines—jackets, parkas, and footwear that come from boating, yachting, sailing, sports influencing college fashion.

Hayashida also notes with approval that style and attitude are a must to pull off a look: “Simply slipping into a pair of Bermuda shorts is no guarantee that you will look stylish. Strut in a brisk and confident way to complete your style.” By contrast, he utterly condemns the loathly “uncouth dresser”—this pariah, wearing a football jersey top, a pair of cut-off shorts, and leather sandals, is “a typical example of uncouth style.” Cutoffs, boat shoes without socks, untucked shirt tails—these are the hallmarks of “an uncouth dresser.” !

And one detail which truly sounds like the book was commissioned by a designer—Hayashida frequently documents students with bags of clothing heading off to the dry cleaners. He says, happily, “Dry-cleaning—the key to good maintenance.”

Hayashida’s narrow focus on campus fashion may be observed by reviewing his chapter headings: It begins to sound like Sei Shonagon’s famous lists—(“a list of ‘awkward things’,”… of “splendid things,” “things that give you pleasure”): as well as a campus or J. Crew catalog:

• Modified T-shirts
• Rugby Shorts
• The Dartmouth Green
• Bermuda Shorts – two variations
• A letterman’s Sweater
• Sweatshirts – two variations
• Elbow Patches
• An uncouth dresser (My personal fave)
• Mascots
• Off-white color
• Button-down shirts
• Hoods
• Baseball caps
• Bare feet- (also includes wearing boat shoes without socks. Two “uncouth dressers”)

And indeed absolutely everything noted here is documented carefully and repeatedly in the photo essays.

Hayashida cannot contain his amazement that at an Ivy League university one must actually study hard, spending time in the library reading books, in addition to wandering around the campus with shirt-tails untucked or rowing boats, in order to graduate. He notes more than once that lights are often lit late into the night; or all night, that students “dare to skip their sleep” in order to study. A night photo of a dorm room with lights lit accompanies this observation. He is happy to note that athletics are also extremely important, perhaps even more important than studying, but in any case critical for a student to become an “all-round man.” The text for students at a boat house waiting to row reads like a Japanese style fight song:

“A warm up. Be prepared and have no regrets.
Train your body and be prepared for critical events.”

After a brief foray into New York City, the shop windows of Madison and Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers and J. Press, noting Ivy style wherever he goes, on mature men of fashion, and, presumably, power, Hayashida closes by noting that JFK was the complete Ivy man. Something to ponder. In addition to his Ivy style clothes sense, was it the PT boat captain, or the lover of Marilyn Monroe, or simply the presidency that brought Hayashida to this conclusion? Or the timing—it was, after all, the 60’s. In any case, a ringing endorsement of his theme.

Get this book! A summer must and a long-term guide to timeless classic fashion. And a hallmark of Japanese cultural style. Who could resist?