Tobi trousers
Encyclopedia
Tobi trousers or tobi pants are a type of baggy pants used as a common uniform of tobi shokunin, construction worker
s in Japan
who work on high places (such as scaffolding and skyscrapers). The pants are baggy to a point below the knees, abruptly narrowing at the calves so as to be put into the footwear: high boots or jikatabi (tabi
-style boots), often brightly colored.
According to a spokesperson for Toraichi, a major manufacturer of worker's clothes of this style, the style was developed from knickerbockers
. The regular knickerbocker-style pants are called nikka zubon ("zubon" means "trousers," and "nikka" or "nikka-bokka" is a gairaigo
-transformation of the word "knickerbockers"). The excessively widened ones are called chocho zubon. This style has also entered popular fashion , as evidenced by the emergence of toramani ("Toraichi maniacs"), die-hard fans of Toraichi trousers.
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
s in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
who work on high places (such as scaffolding and skyscrapers). The pants are baggy to a point below the knees, abruptly narrowing at the calves so as to be put into the footwear: high boots or jikatabi (tabi
Tabi
are traditional Japanese socks. Ankle-high and with a separation between the big toe and other toes, they are worn by both men and women with zori, geta, and other traditional thonged footwear. Tabi are also essential with traditional clothing—kimono and other wafuku as well as being worn by...
-style boots), often brightly colored.
According to a spokesperson for Toraichi, a major manufacturer of worker's clothes of this style, the style was developed from knickerbockers
Knickerbockers (clothing)
Knickerbockers are men's or boys' breeches or baggy-kneed trousers particularly popular in the early twentieth century USA. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours were breeches of this type...
. The regular knickerbocker-style pants are called nikka zubon ("zubon" means "trousers," and "nikka" or "nikka-bokka" is a gairaigo
Gairaigo
Gairaigo is Japanese for "loan word" or "borrowed word", and indicates a transliteration into Japanese. In particular, the word usually refers to a Japanese word of foreign origin that was not borrowed from Chinese, primarily from English. Japanese also has a large number of loan words from...
-transformation of the word "knickerbockers"). The excessively widened ones are called chocho zubon. This style has also entered popular fashion , as evidenced by the emergence of toramani ("Toraichi maniacs"), die-hard fans of Toraichi trousers.