Day 6: Graduation Costumes
This is the 6th day of my 100 days English diary challenge.
March is the season of graduation for Japanese students. Perhaps the 25th is the most popular day where graduation ceremonies were held in Japan. On 25th, I saw a young man with a young woman who wore traditional HAKAMA in the train. Girls used to wear HAKAMA to go to high school or college about 100 years ago. The reason to wear HAKAMA, apparently, because it is a more sporty wear for girls. If women wear KIMONO, we can't go cycling, we can't run, we can't walk fast. HAKAMA is kind of trousers (similar to culottes), so I think it's like a symbol of working and educated women in the past century. Now this costume remains only in the graduation ceremony. I never worn that, but I love to see those women wearing HAKAMA this season.
But the young man was wearing also HAKAMA then. It was ridiculous! Men didn't use to wear HAKAMA on graduation day, definitely. They use to wear GAKURAN and a college cap. Of course, that uniform was boys' tradition of high school & University students. Besides the young man was wearing so gorgeous gold and white KIMONO & HAKAMA, then it reminded me a child of "七五三(shichigosan) ".
Times are changing. Lots of graduates enjoy "cosplay" in the graduation ceremony recently. Basically, I don't mind what they wear. But I saw a foreign person couldn't help looking at them because this is a rare Japanese "traditional" thing. But, I would tell him that they were a half good tradition, but a half strange cosplay!
