Right now, the men's fashion scene is a diverse zone of awesomeness. Labels from around the world create new spins on classic menswear, or forward-thinking designers just invent new visions of what men can and should wear. And one place in the world that's definitely happening right now is Japan. The country hosts some of the most cutting-edge labels and ones that produce the most traditional menswear pieces. But for much of its sartorial history, the way Japanese men dressed was set by what Americans had worn years prior.

From perfect replicas of military jackets to denim made on old-school shuttle looms, the men's style scene in Japan was, at one point, a time capsule of classic Americana. But what caused that shift post-WWII? And how did it come to be that Japan often produces better versions of distinctly American designs (see: the bomber jacket, all forms of denim) than we do? A new book, titled Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, answers these questions while unpacking this fascinating relationship between these two far-flung cultures. We spoke to the book's author, W. David Marx, about the early days of Japan's fetishization of Americana style, its influence on modern-day streetwear culture, and how Japanese and American men's fashion magazines (like, say, GQ) are still worlds apart.

Let's start with the title. What is Ametora?

The word “Ametora” means “American traditional” and started in the ’80s in Japan. But it generally means American East Coast, classic, elite clothing. It’s a combination of Ivy style as well as British items like fisherman's sweaters. It’s anything you’d see on East Coast campuses in the U.S. But I kind of want to reframe the word in this context of, anytime a Japanese product or brand makes American clothing or makes something new, it becomes Ametora. The word “tradition” is too linked to just East Coast style, but now things like hip-hop style and California surfer style are also in some way traditional American style.

In the book, you introduce [the book] Take Ivy as one of the first major influences on Japanese style.

Ivy started it. And you’re starting from scratch. At the time, Japan wasn’t getting much influence from America, because it was so closed off to the world. After [World War II], you couldn’t go overseas very easily for about 20 years, until around 1964. And even then, it was super expensive until the late ’80s. Take Ivy was one of the first books that brought American style to Japan. After that, the commercial world started picking up on hippie style and outdoor style, but Ivy is really where the system starts, and I think that’s why Ivy League style has become so venerated. It’s not just a certain style of the ’60s, but it was the start of the men’s style in Japan.

I think a common perception is that Japanese men, post–World War II, simply wanted to dress like Americans they saw, but your book says it’s not that clear-cut.

There were tons of American soldiers in Japan from about 1945 to 1950, but they were always in uniform, and that made an impact on people, but it wasn’t something that could be easily replicated. Jeans were showing up in certain markets, but they were incredibly expensive. So even if you thought Americans were cool, it was really hard to dress like them. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Japanese brands started making versions of everyday American clothing. But until Japanese brands made the products themselves, and put them in a Japanese context like magazines with Japanese models, did those clothes really pick up.

The book also seems to reframe the relationship between American and Japanese style less as a one-way influence, but more as a dialogue. Is that right?

I would actually say that until recently it wasn’t a dialogue. It was mostly one way in the sense that Japan got very into it, and when Americans would see that Japanese men were into it, they would get a little weirded out. The clearest example of this is in the 1980s movie Mystery Train. The first part has these Japanese kids wearing all of these Teddy Boy clothes, and they come to Memphis and they want to see the glory of Rock ‘n’ Roll Memphis and are disappointed when it’s not what they expected. And the movie kind of makes fun of that, but Americans have always been uncomfortable because they think it feels forced. I think a lot of Americans were dismissive of it because they thought Japanese men didn’t understand it. But around eight years ago, with the rise of menswear blogs, American men started to include these versions of American gear, and it became a dialogue. And often now, Japanese brands might not be considered superior, but are doing something interesting. And Japanese labels have even become a standard, in a way—for instance, if a stylish American guy is looking for dress shirts, he might go to Kamakura. I also think it started with A Bathing Ape, when you actually had a Japanese brand in the American pop-culture consciousness.