Traditional Japanese lower garment, looking like either a skirt (hakama skirt) or baggy, pleated trousers (hakama pants). A traditional hakama has seven deep pleats, five in the front and two in the rear. Not to commonly be confused with (qixiong ruqun).
Hakama are split into a front and back section at the top, each of which have ties which are secured around the waist, often leaving a visible gap at the side of the hip and usually covering the midriff. Hakama are worn over a kimono.
Commonly worn both by samurai, miko & kannushi, practitioners of many martial arts including kyuudou, and often by sumo wrestlers when appearing in public outside the ring.
Traditionally worn by men with either a kataginu sleeveless jacket/vest in an outfit known as kamishimo (lit. upper & lower) or over a formal, long-sleeved montsukikimono, with the family crest on it. Sometimes a haori is worn over the latter.
Hakama are also commonly worn by both female college students and female teachers or professors at graduation ceremonies because during the late 19th and early 20th centuries they were the standard female school uniform until the introduction of the serafuku. Also during this time period they were a fashionable day to day outfit for young women, often paired with a kimono with a simple geometric or floral print. Women's hakama tend to be either solid color or with a graduated hue, and hakama meant for young women may be sparsely decorated with floral decorations, they are paired with a solid color kimono.
