Dress code for visiting temples

Originally published by several members in February 2017.
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FlyingDutch

« Thread started on: Feb 25th, 2017, 01:21am »
We (a man and are woman) are going to cover the pilgrimage by bike in spring. Meaning that we might wear bike shorts.

Would this attire be considered inappropriate for visiting the temples?

I saw from various footages that the henro dress is not always used, but I never saw naked legs.

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slc

« Reply #1 on: Feb 27th, 2017, 5:20pm »
From what I understand shorts are not commonly worn in Japanese culture, but you can still wear them and it won't be a problem at all. I'm pretty sure I wore shorts to a temple or two. I don't believe there's any kind of dress code for visiting a temple.

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tneva82

« Reply #2 on: Feb 28th, 2017, 05:38am »
https://youtu.be/GU-A8wO_P9A

You can see japanese in shorts even to temple there. So while not common even locals can be seen in it.

While adult Japanese seldom wear shorts in public, wearing sport specific shorts is a completely different matter. If you show up in bike shorts no one will think anything about it. It's perfectly normal. In fact, it might start several conversations, as long as you have the hakui on as well. With the addition of the hakui you are obviously a henro and people might come up to you and ask you about your trip, since so few people do the Henro on bicycle.

Dave