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TOKYO -- United States Ambassador to Japan Thomas Stephen Foley was the
first to predict
that the forthcoming Summit of leaders of the Group of Eight Industralized
Nations on Okinawa might have to be held with the participants wearing
sport or aloha shirts instead of formal or business attire.
Foley had just returned from an inspection visit to summit facilities
several weeks ago. He told American reporters at a private embassy
gathering that his main impression was "It was very hot in Okinawa and
bound to get hotter."
Meteorologists say the Okinawa weather on July 21-23 is expected to be
at least 28.3 degrees Centigrade, 83 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity
over 80 percent. It will also be the height of the typhoon season.
When past summits have been held in Kuala Lumpur or Bali or Bangkok,
with similar weather patterns, officials have encouraged leaders to at
least go tieless, or preferably to wear colorful local open-necked
shirts.
For the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protocol office, nothing
would be more humiliating than to have to make a last-minute request to
G-8 leaders to "dress down" and wear sleeveless shirts while listening to
U.S.President Bill Clinton or Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
Japanese foreign ministry traditionalists would do almost anything to
preserve the dress code.
It was a reminder of the near-international incident a few years ago
when former U.S.President Gerald Ford showed up for an Imperial Banquet
wearing trousers that were cut at least two inches too short, according to
diplomatic analysts.
When asked about the Okinawa dress situation, an official at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs Protocol said, on the condition of anonymity, "No
special dress code for emergency weather
has been announced in advance. However, we will be suggesting different
costumes for different events and dinners.
Richard Mei, Jr., Deputy Press Attache, U.S. Embasy in Tokyo, was more
forthcoming.
"No idea on what the dress will be like down in Okinawa for the
leaders,"Mei said.
" As for us working stiffs, we were told it's 'business casual'(a
phrase I had never heard of
before) until the leaders arrive."
"In case you don't know what 'business casual' means (like me), " Mei
explained, " it's short sleeve shirts, no tie and no jacket, but not polo
shirts!"
Foley has been followed by the "dressing down" syndrome throughout his
illustrious career.
"Now, I'm a coat and tie guy," he said. He did his best to head off
efforts to make it easier for congressmen to take the floor casually when
he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, the third-highest elective
post in the U.S. after President and Vice-President, from 1989 to 1995.
After leaving congress, Foley found that his old law firm Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld,
had early in the 1990s adopted the "casual Friday" dress code; optional
coats and ties on Fridays.
"When I visited the firm this year (2000) I found that the dress code
had become 'casual everyday.'"
The reason, he said, was that so many of the firm's clients "were
these billionaire IT (information technology) guys who wouldn't be caught
dead wearing a coat and tie."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Protocol Office believes the Okinawa
summit will not produce a nightmare like the seating uproar caused at an
Imperial party for diplomats several years ago.
A Middle East potentate showed up with his invitation and at the last
moment demanded that his umbrella-bearer be given the seat directly
behind him because the Royal Parasol or umbrella was part of the lavish
uniform which the potentate wore on such occasions.
The last-minute change caused a temporary disruption in the seating
arrangement which had been set up in both symmetrical and in alphabetical
order. In the end however, after much seat-shuffling and apologizing, all
parties including the umbrella bearer were satisfied with the aplomb shown
by the Japanese in handling the matter.
Edward Neilan (eneilan@crisscross.com) is a veteran journalist, based in Tokyo, who covers East Asia and writes weekly for World Tribune.com.