seijin-no-hi
"January 15 is seijin-no-hi (Coming-of-Age
Day). On this day, people who will turn twenty years old
during this year celebrate becoming an adult in Japanese
society. Becoming twenty is a very important turning
point for Japanese people. In their eyes, it is the
beginning of social life as an adult with full rights
such as voting. However, people are very excited about
this age mainly because they are allowed to drink and
smoke 'legally' or 'in public,' even though most have
already tried these symbols of adulthood before they
reach the age of twenty in Japan.
|
- Ms. YÇko
Adachi
- City: Fukuoka
- Prefecture: Fukuoka
- Birth: Sept. 27, 1970
|
"On January 15, those
new-adults gather for the seijin-no-hi ceremony which is
held by local governments. The ceremony is attended in formal
dress: most men wear suits and some wear kimonos, and most women
wear colorful long-sleeved kimonos or traditional and formal
costumes. Traditionally, parents will buy these long-sleeved
kimonos for their daughters. However, recently, renting kimonos
for the ceremony has become very popular, because they are very
expensive to purchase. Japanese young people rarely wear kimonos
these days except for weddings and funerals. I, myself, rented a
long-sleeved kimono and accessories. A day rental was about
$1500. It sounds very expensive, but this was the least expensive
kimono I could rent.
"At the ceremony, I met all of my friends from junior
high school, and we took hundreds of pictures of each other to
remember the day. In addition, many of my friends in formal suits
and traditional kimonos made a photograph of themselves at photo
studios, so that they could show the copies at their o-miai (meeting
for an arranged marriage) in the near future. Although the young
generation tends to prefer the love marriage recently, they are
still eager to make the photos on that day. Otherwise, they just
make one for the memory of the day. In my case, because I did not
feel like getting married by arrangement, I did not make one.
Making a good photo also costs a lot, probably around $100 for
one or two copies.
"After the ceremony, there was a large party with
drinking, singing, and dancing all night. It was quite uncertain
whether all of us, the new-adults, had really realized the
responsibilities and duties as citizens in the society, as we
were granted on that seijin-no-hi."
