March is graduation season. Here in Kanazawa, it is customary for schools to hand out red and white manju at graduation ceremonies, and elementary school students create graduation projects using traditional crafts such as Kutani ware and Kaga Yuzen, and attend ceremonies wearing handmade Mizuhiki corsages. Graduation ceremonies are held every year that take advantage of the local characteristics.

The standard outfit for graduation ceremonies is the hakama. It was decades ago, not just a long time ago, that students would stand in front of the school with a serious look on their face and take a commemorative photo with their diploma in hand. Recently, it is impressive to see students posing with selfie sticks in hand, expressing themselves as they take photos of themselves in the hakama, which is a typical graduation ceremony. The most popular outfit for women to wear when attending graduation ceremonies is the hakama. When my mother's generation graduated (when I graduated), unlike today, the hakama was plain navy blue with no stylish embroidery decorations, and the kimono was mostly pale pink, and most hairstyles were half-up, with everyone looking the same from behind. I remember that some graduates wore kimonos with yagasuri patterns, hakama, and boots, influenced by the popular manga "Haikara-san ga Tooru" at the time, and I found that very refreshing.

Perhaps reflecting the era in which individuality is valued, recent combinations of hakama and kimono are very unique and colorful in both color and pattern, making it difficult to choose.

Additionally, while hakama is a standard at university graduation ceremonies, recently it seems that an increasing number of children are wearing hakama to their kindergarten and elementary school graduation ceremonies as well.

So, this time we will introduce the origin and history of why hakama is worn at graduation ceremonies.

 

[Origin and history of Hakama]

The history of the hakama dates back to the Kofun period. Its appearance can be seen in the Haniwa clay figures wearing the wide trouser-like hakama. In the Heian period, high-ranking women who served the Imperial Court began to wear hakama as part of their Junihitoe kimono. In the Edo period, when dress was strictly regulated according to status and gender, only court ladies were allowed to wear hakama. In the Meiji period, women's hakama, which originated from the court ladies' uniforms, were accepted as a school uniform for female students because of their neat appearance. As a result, women's hakama, which combined functionality and elegance, became popular among female students, as the kimono and obi of the time were a hindrance to their studies due to the worries about the kimono coming undone and the difficulty of movement. Around 1897, the standard style for female students was established, consisting of shrimp-brown hakama, leather shoes, and ribbons on the eaves of the hair. Women in hakama were dashing, riding bicycles and playing tennis, and looked lively and active in a way that was unimaginable for women up until that point, and their appearance seemed to symbolize a new era. From the Meiji to Taisho eras, the hakama worn by female students attracted social attention, but as Western clothing was introduced, it gradually disappeared with the times. Thus, it is now passed down as something worn by female students attending graduation ceremonies.

 

[Towards the Graduation Ceremony]

A fashionable woman remains the same throughout the ages.

Knowing the history will surely give you even more pride and joy in wearing the hakama.

The sharp suits are lovely, but we hope you'll enjoy the romantic atmosphere of the Taisho era while thinking about the historical background and female students of the time.

We hope you will have a memorable graduation ceremony wearing your favorite outfit.

 

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Please see the kimono column here.

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