Hakama refers to trousers that have multiple front pleats and one back overlap. Front and back are joined under the crotch and from mid-thigh down but separate above mid-thigh. The pleats are set into front and back waistbands, both of which have sashes for binding them to the waist. When put on first the front is tied at the back and then the back panel sashes are tied at the front. Details of tailoring and material differ. Hakama come in various breadths, lengths, and stiffness.
Hakama featured in this section:
Ōkuchi 大口
Description
Ōkuchi pleated trousers are a hakama style noh costume with stiff wide panels in the back and softer pleated panels in the front. When worn, the back panels are formed into a hump, adding bulk to the figure and ease of movement. Plain ōkuchi are worn by male and female characters, generally expressing higher social status.
Roles and draping
Ōkuchi are worn by characters of high-ranking women, priests, and old men, as well as warrior-courtiers, They are also worn underneath sashinuki (see below) to give the latter bulk. Cords are strung through holes at the top of the back panels. When these are pulled and tied, they create a large tuck that results in a bulge over the upper backside. When donned, the front is tied to the actor’s body with long sashes, and a Y-shaped wooden support is inserted into the tied sash at the center back. The bulge of the pleated back panels is placed over the forked support and then the back panel sashes are brought to the front and tied.
Textile features and tailoring
The front panels of the ōkuchi are plain weave silk while the ribbed back panels alternate tightly packed heavy wefts and single wefts to create a very stiff, thick fabric. The front panels are given pleats that widen towards the hem and are connected to the back panels between the legs and at the sides from about knee height down. The two stiff, broad back panels must be sewn with special knot stitches. They are basted in a V along the outline of the tucks that form the back bulge.
Designs and colors
Plain colors are standard: white (priests, warriors, ministers) predominates, and red for women, but lavender, green, brown, and blue are all possible. Sometimes ōkuchi have discrete patterns woven into the plain-weave ground, either in a colored thread or metallic leaf.
Hangiri 半切
Description
Hangiri pleated trousers are a hakama-style noh costume with woven patterning that are worn by strong male characters such as powerful deities, warriors, bandits, tengu, and vengeful ghosts.
Roles and draping
Before donning hangiri, the stiff back panels are given a deep tuck to form a mound or bulge, like that for the ōkuchi. The actor steps into the leg openings, and then the front half of the trousers is secured in place by tying the attached belt sashes at the back. Next, the stiff mounded back panels are slipped over a fork-shaped wooden prong inserted in the tied sashes. The broad back panels add bulk and majesty to the figure when combined with a happi (bandits, goblins) a sobatsugi, or happi with the sleeves hiked up (strong warrior or revengeful ghost), and kariginu (strong deities such as the god Kamo Wakeikazuchi in the play Kamo.
Textile features and tailoring
The basic construction of hangiri is similar to that of ōkuchi, except that the attached waist sashes are a different cloth. Also, the entire garment is tailored our of one brocaded fabric, generally satin with supplementary patterning in gold or silver, or sometimes colored threads. To achieve the stiffness necessary for the back panels, woven mats are inserted as a core interfacing between the face fabric and lining.
Designs and colors
Bold designs are common, often gold against a strong color like red, navy, purple, green, or white. Geometric patterns are common, though painterly motifs like large waves became common in the late Edo period.
Sashinuki 指貫
Description
Sashinuki are pleated courtier’s pantaloons that have hem ties so they can be bound at the ankle. The soft cloth is given bulk by wearing it over okuchi.
Roles and draping
Courtiers, such as in Unrin’in and a variant costume for Shii no Shōshō in Kayoi Komachi wear sashinuki. As a courtier costume, sashinuki can be combined with round-collared courtier’s upper garments, either a nōshi or a kariginu.
Designs and colors
Court motifs such as floral rounds and wavy vertical lines.
Hakama 袴
Hakama is a generic term for a variety of styles of skirt-like pleated trousers belted on top of an “undergarment” kosode (“kitsuke“) and worn by both men and women. In nō, standard ankle-length hakama is worn by the chorus members (jiutai), instrumentalists (hayashi), and stage attendants (kōken). Kyōgen players wear ankle-length, hemp hanbakama decorated with stencil-patterned scattered roundels and donned in combination with kataginu 肩衣 vests for roles of commoners, like the servants Tarōkaja and Jirōkaja. For messengers, laborers, temple workers, and minor shrine deities, the hakama is bound and secured to the calf: “tied hakama” or kukuri-bakama. Daimyō and samurai wear long trailing nagabakama as a part of their matched suits, suō. High-ranking men and women wear ōkuchi (see above), while supernatural deities and demons wear hangiri (see above).
Nagabakama 長袴
Description
Nagabakama, or “long trousers” are woven from bast-fibers like hemp and tailored to create a slender, pleated trouser with long trailing legs They can be either plain colored or decorated with paste-resist designs that coordinate with the designs on the upper half of a matched suit, such as a suō or kamishimo.
Roles and draping
Daimyō and upper samurai in both noh and kyogen wear nagabakama in combination with a matching hemp top, either the broad-sleeved suō or the winged vest similar to the kataginu. The performer tied the nagabakama over a kosode undergarment and upper garment that is tucked in at the waist.
Designs and colors
Many nagabakama have small overall stenciled paste-resist motifs (komon) with family crests at thigh level where the front and back panels join. Nagabakama may also be plain-colored or have large blocks of different colors.
Hanbakama 半袴
Description
Hanbakama, or “half trousers” are ankle-length pleated trousers commonly worn for kyōgen roles of servants and commoners. In matched-suit combinations, hanbakama serves as an alternative to nagabakama. When bound at the calves they are called kukuri-bakama.
Roles and draping
Kyōgen servants, commoners, and minor deities of subsidiary shrines. When worn with kataginu vests, there is no attempt to match the patterns and the vest is draped over the hanbakama, but when worn as a part of a matched suit kamishimo, hitatare, or suō outfit, the hanbakama patterns are coordinated with the patterns on the upper garment.
Designs and colors
Hanbakama worn for kyōgen roles, particularly when combined with kataginu generally have scattered crests or medallions done in paste-resist on dark or light blue, black, or various shades of brown. The hanbakama worn with a hitatare top for the role of Sanbasō in Shikisanban (Okina) has paste-resist designs of cranes and long-tailed tortoises.
Contributor: Monica Bethe