Will the 'Happi' coat make debut at APEC summit?<\/p>\n
By Linda Sieg<\/p>\n
OSAKA, Japan (Reuter): Japan, usually a stickler for
\nformality, is allowing Asia-Pacific leaders to take off their
\ncoats and ties for the APEC summit this weekend.<\/p>\n
They can even wear a happi coat.<\/p>\n
\"Dress will be casual, in keeping with the informality of the
\nmeeting,\" a Japanese official said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Ministers and leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) forum arrive in this western Japanese city
\nthis week to thrash out a blueprint for how to scrap regional
\ntrade barriers over the next 25 years.<\/p>\n
It is often described as an informal grouping and in the past
\nleaders have followed this to the letter in their dress, avoiding
\nthe stiff, business-suit look usually associated with gatherings
\nof world leaders.<\/p>\n
The first APEC leaders' summit in 1993 set the sartorial tone
\nfor what has followed.<\/p>\n
That year the leaders -- dressed in casual clothing -- met on
\nchilly Blake Island off Seattle to endorse a broad vision of free
\ntrade in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region, which already accounts
\nfor half the world's population, nearly half of its trade and
\nfully half of global economic output.<\/p>\n
In their APEC fashion debut, some leaders looked a little
\nawkward bereft of their usual business attire.<\/p>\n
Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa stole the show at
\nSeattle and won rave reviews for his casual jacket and dashing
\nwhite scarf.<\/p>\n
But despite the carefully cultivated fashion statement,
\nHosokawa was ousted from power less than one year later.<\/p>\n
In 1994, APEC leaders -- this time dressed in matching batik
\nshirts -- met in Bogor, Indonesia, where they signed a pact to
\nfree up regional trade and investment by the year 2010 for
\ndeveloped economies and 2020 for developing members.<\/p>\n
The Bogor Declaration, however, did not define the goal or
\nspecify how to achieve it.<\/p>\n
Japanese officials said there would be no attempt this year to
\ncoordinate leaders' summit-wear like in Bogor, despite some
\nspeculation that a casual kimono known as a yukata might be de
\nrigeur.<\/p>\n
APEC officials are having enough trouble trying to patch up
\nserious disagreements over how to achieve free trade goals in the
\nculturally and economically diverse region without worrying about
\nfitting the figures of the 18 leaders.<\/p>\n
Still, to lift the gloom, no one is ruling out the possibility
\nthat a leader or two just might turn up in a happi coat, a sort
\nof half-kimono traditionally worn by Japanese at festivals.<\/p>",
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