Hakama

Hakama pants are the pleated wide-leg trousers worn over a kimono since the Heian period — originally formal wear for samurai, later adopted by martial artists in kendo and aikido, today a wardrobe piece carried by men and women across the Japanese fashion register. The skirt-cut hakama for women shares the same construction with a divided or undivided drop.

The hakama is one of the oldest continuously worn garments in Japanese clothing. It first appears in the Heian period (794-1185) as the ceremonial trouser of court aristocrats, structured around seven deep pleats that carry coded meaning — five at the front for the five Confucian virtues, two at the back for loyalty and the unbreakable sword. Through the Kamakura and Edo periods the hakama becomes the standard formal wear of the samurai class, paired with the kimono and the haori for state appearances, ceremonies, weddings. The Meiji reforms of the 1870s strip the samurai class of their privileges but leave the garment intact; martial arts schools (kendo, aikido, iaido, kyudo) preserve the hakama as their formal training uniform through the twentieth century. By the Taisho era women begin wearing the hakama as university dress, the andon-bakama skirt-cut version that becomes a graduation tradition still alive today. This collection picks up that lineage in modern wearable cuts.

The men's hakama line follows the umanori construction — uma meaning horse, nori meaning ride — the divided trouser cut originally designed for horseback. Itoburu in indigo, Matokuro in black, Shiroumare in white carry the full traditional silhouette: seven pleats arranged five front and two back, koshi-ita stiffened back panel that sits at the waist, himo ties that wrap around the body and knot at the front in the jūmonji cross or the ichimonji single-line bow. The fabric runs in midweight cotton and polyester for breathability, with a drape that holds the pleats through wear. Mitsuryo offers a cropped variation that reads more contemporary — same construction, shorter length, easier transition into modern street wear. Shinshiro and Konakoi sit in the wide-leg utility register, closer to Japanese workwear than to formal hakama, drawing on the same pleated foundation but cut for daily wear rather than ceremony. Hakama pants for men in their full historical and contemporary range.

The women's hakama line uses the andon-bakama construction — the undivided skirt-cut version that became standard for female university students in the late Meiji and Taisho periods. The name comes from andon, the paper lantern — the silhouette flares out from a high waist into a column of pleated fabric that reads closer to a long pleated skirt than to a trouser. Raitobeju in beige, Namakuro in black, Naitoburu in navy carry the A-line variation: a fitted high waist, knife pleats falling to ankle length, narrow ribbon ties. Pinkugakatta in pink, Jiminakuro in black, Shian in cyan use a fuller pleated cut with deeper accordion folds and a wider skirt sweep. Hakama pants women in the modern interpretation — wearable as standalone skirts over a fine knit or t-shirt, paired with kimono tops for the full traditional silhouette, pulled into Tokyo street styling with sneakers and an oversized hoodie.

The black hakama runs as the dominant color across the men's traditional line — Matokuro, Mitsuryo, Jiminakuro — because kuro (black) carries the most formal weight in Japanese traditional dress, the color of weddings, funerals, and serious ceremony. Black hakama is also the standard color of the kendo and aikido training hakama, which gives the silhouette its martial arts association. The cotton hakama line covers the breathable everyday cuts — Itoburu indigo cotton, Shiroumare white cotton, Raitobeju beige cotton — closer to summer wear than to ceremonial weight. The polyester-blend pieces hold the pleats more sharply and resist creasing through travel, which makes them better suited to the Tokyo street register than to traditional ceremony. The pleat structure is identical across materials; the drape changes with weight.

The hakama is rarely worn alone. The traditional pairing — hakama kimono — places the hakama over a kimono or kimono blouse, with the kimono tucked into the high waist and the hakama ties crossing the obi. For men this reads as the formal ceremonial silhouette: kimono + obi + hakama + haori jacket on top. For women the kimono and hakama pairing carries the andon-bakama university tradition still worn at graduation ceremonies across Japan today. Modern Tokyo styling breaks the rules in both directions: hakama with a fine cream knit and ankle boots, hakama with a Japan Clothing kimono jacket thrown open, hakama with sneakers and an oversized graphic tee. The construction holds across registers because the silhouette has never depended on what's worn above the waist.

Outside the fashion register, the hakama survives as the standard training uniform for several Japanese martial arts. Kendo hakama uses the same seven-pleat umanori cut in midweight indigo cotton, paired with a gi training jacket. Hakama aikido follows the same construction in slightly heavier weight to handle the throws and rolls of the practice. Iaido and kyudo (sword arts and archery) both maintain hakama wear as part of their formal training etiquette. The pieces in this collection are styled for everyday wear rather than martial arts training — cuts and weights are not certified for dojo use — but they share the same construction lineage. Samurai hakama in the historical sense is the same garment in heavier silk or wool, reserved for ceremonial wear.

Sizes follow the traditional cut conventions. The men's umanori hakama is sized through the waist and the inseam, with the koshi-ita back panel adjusting through the himo tie length. The women's andon-bakama uses high-waist sizing; the elasticated waistband and ribbon ties accommodate a wide range of waist measurements. Length runs from cropped Mitsuryo at calf-length to full Shiroumare at ankle-length. The pleats are knife-pleat or accordion depending on the cut, and require careful folding for storage — laid flat with the pleats aligned, never rolled or hung from a hanger that breaks the line. Construction details and exact measurements live on each individual product page.