Compared to most Western countries, Japanese schools have a short summer holiday, generally lasting six weeks or so. It ended this week. In most countries, the sight of kids back in uniform is a clear marker of the end of summer and the start of autumn. But here in Japan, you always see kids in school uniform, whether it is the middle of the school term or the vacation period. The schools just never seem to close—kids are constantly going into the schools during the breaks to participate in sports clubs and take extra classes. So seeing kids in uniform doesn't signal a season change here, but the uniforms' seasonal variations and the unique Japanese designs add an interesting touch to the scenery.

At this time of year, summer uniforms are still the norm, but as the weather slowly gets chillier some girls will begin to wear the additional autumn cardigans, and boys will change into their full winter wear.

The Japanese school uniforms have become cult objects. The standard boys' uniform, or gakuran (学ラン), was modelled after the 19th century Prussian Army uniform. Boys wear it in spring, autumn, and winter, but are allowed to leave their jackets at home in the summer months. The term gakuran is a combination of gaku (学) meaning "study" or "student", and ran (ラン or 蘭) meaning Holland or, historically in Japan, the West in general. Thus, gakuran translates as "Western student (uniform)".

The gakuran has been adopted and redesigned into various colours by various groups from cosplay (dress-up costume) fans to rebellious (yankee ヤンキー) characters and lower rank yakuza or biker gangs (bousouzoku 暴走族). There is a huge wealth of comic books (manga マンガ) featuring characters wearing these iconic uniforms. They can actually look quite nice—to tell the truth, I've always fancied buying one myself as novelty item—but the cost of the jacket alone is almost 20,000 yen!

The girls "sailor" uniform was introduced as a school uniform in 1921 by Elizabeth Lee, American principal of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University. The uniform generally consists of a blouse with a sailor-style collar and a knee-length pleated skirt. However, most students try to adjust their uniforms to flout school rules and declare their individualism. The "cool" skirt length varies from generation to generation, as girls either hike them up to make micro-mini skirts or have their tailor turn them into ankle-length dresses.

And the sailor uniform has become an object adored by comic book fans and er...well, less than healthy members of the Japanese community. I shall leave the sailor uniform topic there really, it is a sub-culture in itself.