Court uniform and dress in the Empire of Japan

The ministers of the Hamaguchi cabinet in European-style court dress. Most of the members, including Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi in the center, are in the uniforms of chokunin-kan officials. Minister of the Army Kazushige Ugaki (second from the right) is in military uniform, while Minister for Foreign Affairs Kijūrō Shidehara (third from the right) is in the uniform of a baron.

The official court dress of the Empire of Japan (大礼服, taireifuku), used from the Meiji period until the end of the Second World War, consisted of European-inspired clothing of the 1870's. It was first introduced at the beginning of the Meiji period and maintained through the institution of the constitutional monarchy by the Meiji Constitution, and represented the highest uniforms in use at the time.[1]: Ch.5  Uniforms for members of the kazoku peerage and civil officials were officially set.

  1. ^ Osakabe, Yoshinori (April 2010). 洋服・散髪・脱刀 : 服制の明治維新 [Western Clothes, Cut Hair, No Swords: The Meiji Restoration of Clothing] (in Japanese). Kodansha Ltd. ISBN 978-4-06-258464-7.