Comments on: Tobi or not Tobi

Tobi or not Tobi

oneirodynia — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:58:01 -0800

Who needs boots when you can have steel-toed tabi? An overview of Japanese worker clothing.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:19:15 -0800

Holy crap, I never realized I wanted steel toed tabi before. Now I must have them! Though the gold ones are a bit absurd.

By: BeerFilter

BeerFilter — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:21:48 -0800

Hahah, nice link. Thanks, oneirodynia. Very enjoyable. I'm picking bits of mortar of my clothes as we speak.

By: ooga_booga

ooga_booga — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:31:09 -0800

Cool! Tabi and Tobi in one post!

By: Freen

Freen — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:36:57 -0800

I have always wanted a pair of tabi. Always.

By: Squid Voltaire

Squid Voltaire — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:39:18 -0800

Good lord the Japanese are stylish! Wow, never have I had so much envy for a construction worker's uniform.

By: djstig

djstig — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:50:00 -0800

That garb kind of looks like the Beastie Boys on the Intergalactic Video. Kind of...ish. Pretty suave anyway.

By: Squid Voltaire

Squid Voltaire — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:57:11 -0800

Oh, and that website is fantastic. The "MisFormers" article and the "Private Time" links are also really cool! In that last link (very slightly NSFW--one or two pen and ink naked women) I was especially taken aback by this snarky-sophisticate comment:

"Who isn't making erotic amputee pop art in Japan?"

Who, indeed?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:11:21 -0800

steel-toed tabi These will be perfect for my Grendel costume. Now I just need an electric fork...

By: robofunk

robofunk — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:11:50 -0800

The baggy pants are supposedly good for highrise workers. Apparently workers who wear them are injured less often. Something about the pants allowing you to sense obstacles earlier.

By: Tenuki

Tenuki — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:13:56 -0800

I really like these clothes.

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:17:51 -0800

Ebay has some steel toe tabi --> (not associated / affiliated or whatever) Anybody else want the model of tabi from the article? (not gold)

By: melixxa600

melixxa600 — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:25:49 -0800

My boyfriend has been wanting steel-toed sandals since forever. I picture something a la Tevas but with reinforced toe. He's a sound guy and does a lot of outdoor festivals in the summer - moving heavy equipment around in the heat. Don't think I could get him into any tabi, however.

By: jimmythefish

jimmythefish — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:33:37 -0800

Hummer H3! Get your Tabi on! I want some of those Tabi, and I want them now. I could be a Thirtysomething Mutant Ninja Student.

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:47:27 -0800

I used to see guys like these all the time when I lived in Osaka- I started to think that Japanese construction workers were all either superheroes or extras from the recruitment scenes of The Seven Samurai. Then I read Oyama Shiro's A Man With No Talents. Not quite as awesome as I had hoped.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:24:03 -0800

I thought about getting my brother to send me a pair of tabiwhen he was on Okinawa, but he's such a sphincter that I didn't bother asking. Oh, well, I doubt they're available in twelve-wide anyhow.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 20:05:38 -0800

isopraxis writes "Anybody else want the model of tabi from the article? (not gold)" You mean that tall drink of water with the long hair? I already called dibs. He is fine.

By: nightchrome

nightchrome — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 20:57:59 -0800

It's weird how the intarweb can take even the most mundane crap from Japan and make out like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:22:02 -0800

nightchrome, I agree with you in general, but you have to admit that Japanese construction worker clothes ARE the greatest thing since sliced bread. At least, that's what I thought when I first saw them in 1989, and that was a few years before having an internet connection.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:23:13 -0800

Anything that comes out of a tube is sexier, natch. Hence the popularity of boba tea, astronaut food, the London Underground, and pneumatic message systems (pneumail).

By: kozad

kozad — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:37:30 -0800

I gotta mention, too, aside from the skyscrapers, that these guys can gut and refab a 2-3 story bldg in a couple of days. Not to impugn superhuman characteristics to the Japanese or their outfits, or to wonder about how much overtime their contracts pay...but, just saying'...

By: bunglin jones

bunglin jones — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:27:11 -0800

These shoes ROCK. Combine these with those fuck-off big pants and trucks decked-out in more chrome than seems humanly possible and you've got the coolest construction crews on the planet. Imagine how much better the Village People would be if their construction worker was dressed like these dudes. My wife and I spent a large part of our honeymoon (quite happily) traipsing about Kyoto trying to find tabi that would fit us. Now, whenever her band takes to the stage, there's always this low murmur from the crowd between songs - all the kids at the front are saying: "Look at the violinist's shoes."

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:31:55 -0800

TheWhiteSkull : "Then I read Oyama Shiro's A Man With No Talents. Not quite as awesome as I had hoped." You're kidding. It had the exact opposite reaction for me. I always thought of all construction workers being pretty much the same level, but Oyama makes a big deal of pointing out how there are regular construction workers (like Oyama himself), and then there are tobi, a whole class above. I read the Japanese version; perhaps in the English translation the difference is somewhat obscured?

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 23:58:31 -0800

I like the tabi sneakers. Aqua tabi. Tabi low tops. Ninja tabi boots. Tabi in color. With designs. Tibetan boots are cool too.

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:54:05 -0800

Anybody else want the model of tabi from the article? (not gold) posted by isopraxis at 4:17 PM PST on August 15 [+] [!] Not to worry. I'll take the gold. I will skip the bloomers/plus fours however. Just too reminiscent of elderly British gentlemen playing golf.

By: Colloquial Collision

Colloquial Collision — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 06:20:49 -0800

So the Japanese have Construction Samurai? Cool.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:01:05 -0800

Do tabi shoes and shocks remind anyone else of camel toe?

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:40:32 -0800

Great, now somebody's gonna have to ride back to town to get a shit-load of tabi-socks.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:39:20 -0800

Tough to find size 13-14's, but Tabi are comfy. Carpenter with 10 years of experiance, master of semantic pleonasm. "I love to wear things I like..."

By: deborah

deborah — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:11:11 -0800

I can see Tobi on the catwalks just about .. now!