Japanese Clothing for Men: 12 Pieces and How to Wear Them

Short answer: Japanese clothing for men falls into two groups. The first is traditional garments now worn as everyday pieces: hakama, haori, noragi, the kimono jacket, jinbei, samue and tabi socks. The second is workwear and street cuts that grew out of them: tobi pants, monpe, wide work trousers, harem pants and the sukajan. Most men start with one wide trouser and one open jacket, and keep the rest of the outfit plain.

This page is the map. Each piece links to a guide that explains it and to the collection where we sell it.

The 12 pieces at a glance

Piece	What it is	Learn	Shop	Our price from
Hakama	Wide pleated trousers tied at the waist, once worn by samurai	Samurai pants guide	Hakama pants	$34.90
Harem pants	Dropped-crotch trousers, called sarouel in France	Hakama vs harem pants	Men's harem pants	$34.90
Tobi pants	Scaffolders' trousers, wide to the knee and tight at the calf	What are tobi pants?	Japanese work pants	$39.90
Monpe	Farm trousers that balloon and gather at the ankle	Work pants buying guide	Japanese work pants	$49.90
Wide and baggy trousers	Loose cotton cuts from Japanese street style	Japanese streetwear pants	Japanese baggy pants	$34.90
Noragi	The tied cotton work coat of rural Japan	What is a noragi?	Noragi jackets	$34.90
Haori	A hip-length jacket worn open, first over a kimono	Haori jacket guide	Haori jackets	$19.90
Kimono jacket	A short open jacket with the kimono's straight body and wide sleeves	How to wear one	Men's kimono jackets	$19.90
Sukajan	The embroidered satin souvenir jacket from Yokosuka	Sukajan guide	Sukajan jackets	$59.90
Jinbei	A short tie-front top with shorts or trousers, for summer and home	Where to buy a jinbei	Tie-Front Jinbei Set	$39.90
Samue	The crossover jacket and trousers of temple work	Where to buy a samue	Wrap-Front Samue	$39.90
Tabi socks	Split-toe socks made for sandals and jika-tabi	What are tabi socks?	Tabi socks	$9.90

The full-length kimono and the yukata are not on the list because we do not sell them. Our men's kimono guide and yukata vs kimono cover both, and the traditional Japanese clothing glossary lists 16 garments with their kanji.

Start with the trousers

The trouser sets the whole silhouette, so pick it first.

• Hakama if you want the most Japanese line. The leg is so wide it moves like a skirt.
• Harem pants if you want comfort and a lower crotch, without the pleats.
• Tobi pants or monpe if you like workwear. The narrow ankle sits on a boot.
• Wide work trousers if you want the easiest step from jeans. They are loose but read as normal trousers.

Add one open layer

Japanese jackets are mostly worn open or loosely tied. A haori or a kimono jacket goes over a tee like a cardigan. A noragi ties across the body and works as a light coat. A sukajan is the loud option, so wear it with plain black trousers and nothing else printed.

Keep everything else quiet

1. One wide piece at a time is easiest. Wide trousers plus a fitted or cropped top. Or a loose jacket with straight trousers.
2. Use two or three colours. Black, indigo, grey, off-white and olive are the traditional palette.
3. Show the shoes. Plain sneakers, boots or sandals with tabi socks. Cropped and tapered cuffs exist to show the ankle.
4. Cotton and linen first. Natural fibres give the soft drape these cuts are designed for.

What Japanese clothing costs

We checked 837 men's and unisex listings in 15 online Japanese clothing stores on 29 September 2026. The median hakama cost $79.97, the median haori $47.99, the median jinbei $76.00 and the median samue $109.00. Pieces made in Japan cost more, with hakama from specialist dojo suppliers running into the hundreds. The full data, store by store, is in our Japanese clothing price survey.

Our pieces are made by partner workshops in China and cost less than the survey medians. We say so on every product page and on our about page.

Sizing for Japanese cuts

Many Japanese-cut pieces are sized small, and many traditional ones are one size with ties. Every product page lists the waist range and the outside length in centimetres and inches. Measure a pair of trousers you already own and compare the numbers, not the letter size.