3rd - Portuguese and Spanish culture – the origin of socks

There are a few turning points that were significant enough to have changed the course of human history.
Culture changed the face of human feet, as in the adoption of shitouzu with the influence of Western culture, and the birth of the tabi (split toe sock) with the abolition of the delegations to the Tang Dynasty driving the development of kokufu bunka (national culture). The next significant turning point in sock culture was nanban bunka (Spanish and Portuguese culture) during the Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi Era.
The Portuguese and Spanish passed nanban bunka along the ocean Silk Road (beginning of the Age of Geographical Discovery). Until then, what was worn on feet was only made of sewn together pieces of linen such as shitouzu or tabi. However, because of nanban bunka, socks with elastic were introduced.

The nanban bunka wool and cotton clothes that took root

At the time, Nanban bunka was at the cutting edge of fashion. Oda Nobunaga preferred nanban clothing, and as a fashion leader was actively adopting the style. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had a Persian rug tailored into a coat worn over armor. It was also considered a status symbol for military commanders to wear garments that were tailored with nanban style felt, or velvet fabric. Felt in particular was preferred for its capability to protect against cold weather and rain with its napped wool fabric. Originally since you could never find wool clothes in Japan, felt became the most optimal and practical raw material for coats worn over armor in the battlefield. Not just Oda Nobunaga or Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but military commanders such as Uesugi Kenshin were all having felt armor coats made. There is an Edo period senryu (satirical haiku), "These foreign traders, must come from a freezing land, to have such thick socks," which refers to knit fabric, a common nanban style fabric besides wool used for surviving the cold. This comes to show that nanban style clothing was specifically made for cold regions.
On the other hand, most of the common people had been wearing clothing using hemp for a long time. Nanban fashion using cotton will have an influence on the merchant culture after this portion of the Edo era.

The arrival of the sock

After the era of sewn together linen shitouzu and tabi, socks as we see today came into Japan through nanban. Although not as high in quality as socks we currently wear, these socks which were highly elastic and fit better compared to shitouzu or tabi were revolutionary at the time. It is said that even Mito Komon (the second lord of the Mito clan) wore them during the Edo period.
Socks used to be called meriyasu. While in kanji it is written , it is said that it was originally derived from the Portuguese word meias or Spanish medias. The kanji demonstrates the sock's ability to expand and contract illustrating its ability to fit well to the body. These socks that were introduced from nanban evolved into the current sock along with changes in history, knitting techniques, and raw materials, and continue to widely take root in people's lives.

The nanban's words live on

Even in modern Japanese, there are several words that were derived from western languages such as Portuguese. Among them, there are many words we use thinking it is Japanese but as a matter of fact is actually Portuguese.
Not only raxa (felt) as we mentioned before, but veludo (velvet), saraca (calico), capo (raincoat), jiba~o (undershirt), tempero (tempura), tobacco (cigarettes), carta (playing cards), confeito (sugar candy), and castilla (sponge cake) were derived from Portuguese.

Here again, the immense influence of nanban bunka is illustrated.