The three young women depicted here are all wearing the first version of Japanese school uniforms, consisting of a hakama (袴) skirt worn over a short-sleeved furisode kimono. Hakama are wide trousers which were one of the main garments for men during the Edo period. These trousers were slightly modified and turned into skirts, being tied at one’s waist rather than one’s hip for the sake of becoming uniforms for young females.
Just like their male counterparts who adopted uniforms in 1879, the rising number of female students during the late 19th century likewise called for unified clothing on their part. Being adopted on a nationwide level in 1898 (and held in place until 1918), an emphasis was put on the functionality of the hakama / kimono ensemble within an environment in which students were expected to participate in regular practices of sports and physical exercise. The addition of boots or leather shoes, as well as a big ribbon in one’s hair would later come to quintessentially represent early female students of the Meiji and Taishō period.
© National Diet Library (国立国会図書館), Tokyo.
DR CAROLIN BECKE 