Coatee, part of Court Dress suit for Japanese official

From about the late 18th century and into the 19th century most European countries develop a form of diplomatic uniform, to be worn by diplomats on public, official or formal occasions. They developed alongside or were the same as court uniforms. They usually consisted of a wool coatee and trousers or breeches, and a bicorn hat. Although largely defunct in the 21st Century, some countries and courts retain them for formal occasions.

Japan adopted this style of clothing relatively late. From the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century, Japan was a closed society, with an isolationist foreign policy. The accession of the Emperor Meiji, in 1867, and the Meiji Restoration, from 1868, saw a rapid opening up of Japan to the rest of the world, and extensive social and political reform. Japan rapidly westernised and industrialised to become a major world power within a few decades. Initiatives such as the Iwakura Mission, an expedition of Japanese emissaries to the United States and Europe on a fact-finding mission, saw Japan quickly learn about western culture and technology. Japan also rapidly adopted western styles of dress. This included court dress and diplomatic uniform for court and government officials, as an essential part of international diplomacy.

The Japanese term for this style of court dress is ‘taireifuku’. This example shows how taireifuku follow the basic form of western court dress, but had its own distinctive style. It has an open collar, and the goldwork embroidery features a paulownia flower, a traditional symbol or 'mon' of Japanese government. This taireifuku was made in Tokyo, by the tailor Densuke Uemura, but in both its design and its history it is a dialogue between European and Japanese culture. The quality of tailoring and embroidery on this taireifuku show the exquisite quality of Japanese manufacture of high-status western-style garments. The style and construction of taireifuku developed in the 1870s as Japanese tailors learnt more about Western garments. The regulations for taireifuku were revised and regularised in the 1880s, and uniforms made after that time have a style of goldwork embroidery more consistent with Western manufacture, suggesting the effects of greater exposure to Western examples.