Haniwa Look

Revision as of 13:11, 24 May 2008

The Haniwa Look (埴輪ルック) is a Japanese slang expression popularized around 2005 relation to female Japanese fashion.

Meaning of Haniwa Look

Japanese schoolgirls who have the Haniwa Look are girls who wear their schoolgirl uniforms, specifically a Japanese schoolgirl skirt, with shorts or sweats (sweatpants) under it. The term Haniwa refers to a type of earthen statue that were erected over the graves of powerful Japanese men in the past. The silhouette of a Japanese schoolgirl in a skirt with pants under it is said to resemble the thick legged silhouette of the Haniwa statue. The term was probably not coined as a compliment in that the legs of the Haniwa statues look quite fat.

Why the Haniwa Look

Japanese schoolgirls are generally believed to adopt the Haniwa Look (sweats under skirts) for two main reasons:

• The first reason is because of cold weather. In certain parts of Japan, especially Hokkaido and other parts of Northern Japan, it gets very cold in the winter and skirts are not practical.
• The second reason why some Japanese schoolgirls adopt the Haniwa Look is to prevent males from looking up their skirts. Short skirts are not always practical during certain activities, for example sports or dancing. There have also been reports of men filming or peeping up girls skirts in Japanese trains or on escalators, and some schoolgirls adopt the Haniwa Look to prevent any chance of this happening.

External Links

• Haniwa statue photo (Japanese)
• Japanese schoolgirl with shorts under skirt photo (Japanese)