赤澤マサ子（岩手）

About this photo

A standing portrait from her head to the hem of her hakama. She wears a kimono with a fine dotted pattern and a hakama, with its cords tied in a large bow at the front of her waist. She wears dark gloves, and on the stand to the right is a basket of white flowers. The name under the photo reads "Akazawa Masako (Iwate)." From Nihon Bijincho (Album of Japanese Beauties, 1908).

In the early Meiji era, schoolgirls went to school in kimono alone, without hakama. Because their hems came open during lessons where they sat on chairs, schools had them wear men's hakama, but there was much opposition, and this was stopped in 1883. Later, girls began to wear the purple onna-bakama (women's hakama) of the Peeresses' School (Kazoku Jogakko) in other colors, and this took hold in the middle of the Meiji 30s (the early 1900s). Purple was thought too exalted a color, and maroon (ebicha) was the most common, so schoolgirls were called "Ebicha Shikibu," a play on the name of Murasaki Shikibu (murasaki means purple).

Because the photo is black and white, the color of her hakama is unknown, and it is also not known whether she was a student. Today, hakama are a familiar sight at graduation ceremonies.

Glossary