An alien in Japan: Graduation Ceremony

Japanese school year starts on April 1st every year, so graduation ceremony is in February. High school is 3 years here, so my 3rd graders graduated last Friday. 1st and 2nd grade student are going to come to school for one or two more weeks to do end term tests.

Although high schools make their students wear school uniforms (the famous sailor uniform for girls) my school is not very strict about it, so students often wear casual clothes to school. However, they are asked to wear their uniform for school events, including graduation. Most students decided to wear hakama (it's a traditional Japanese wear), which they usually rent, and it costs quite a lot of money. The school asked them not to, because not all the students can afford it...but they didn't listen, nor did their parents it seems. I found that a bit strange. It's quite unusual here for a high school student to wear hakama for graduation, because schools have a stricter uniform policy. It's a more usual wear for university graduation. I was surprised too, to see my students all dressed up like that, but I have to admit they did look gorgeous.