- Tags
- Time Management Tips (38)
- Guest Blog (24)
- Home & Organization (22)
- special needs (19)
- business (14)
- education (14)
- family (13)
- In The Media (11)
- autism (8)
- Letters to Jan (8)
Outreach
Letters To Jan
Special Time of Year: Coming of Age Day in Japan
Special Time of Year Series
Happy New Year! Welcome back to the Time Timer Blog: Make Every Moment Count.
This year, Time Timer friends around the world will share how they celebrate the passing of time ~ marking holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, coming of age and the new year. To contribute, email Support@TimeTimer.com!
Special Time of Year Series #1: Coming of Age in Japan
By Lauren Steinmann, Japan-America Society of Greater Cincinnati
In Japan, the second Monday in January is a national holiday called “Coming of Age Day” or Seijin no Hi. This holiday celebrates young people who have turned 20 or will turn 20 within the year, officially becoming adults. Seijin no Hi grants them the right to vote, drink and marry without parental permission, and subject to all laws and social responsibilities.
“Coming of Age Day” dates back to 714 A.D when young princes would don new robes and a new hairstyle to mark passage into adulthood.
For today’s Japanese youth, this 1400-year-old tradition is still cool: young women wear gorgeous and intricate kimonos while the men look sharp and smart in their traditional hakama or western tuxedos.
Buying or renting the kimonos, hakama and tuxedos for the Coming of Age Day is much like prom dresses and tuxedos in America -- up until that point, it is the fanciest thing they have ever worn -- and with so many Japanese youth celebrating every year, reservations and rentals are made up to a year in advance.
For girls, it’s not just about the kimono. There are shoes, accessories and a trip to the hair salon to get a perfectly coiffed up-do.
“I was lucky,” Yukie Hall a member of the Japan-America Society of Greater Cincinnati recounted.
“My friend’s mom owned the salon so my hair appointment was at 5am. Most girls had their appointments at 1 or 2 in the morning. Then they would go home and sleep sitting up in chairs so they wouldn’t damage their hairstyles.”
On the morning of Coming of Age day, Japan’s youth sit in their municipal centers or local conference halls listening to speeches given by a mayor or other guest speaker extolling the virtues of becoming an adult. This is called seijin shiki or “adult ceremony”.
“Where you live affects where you celebrate the “adult ceremony,” explained Asami Ono, new resident to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Those lucky enough to have been born and raised in Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture, a city put on the map because of Tokyo Disneyland, get to celebrate their Coming of Age ceremony at, where else, Disneyland!
Sometime in the late afternoon or evening, after all the speeches and pictures, the newly recognized adults enjoy an evening out with the other local 20-year-olds to celebrate their new independence and position in Japan’s society.
To all Time Timer friends in Japan – have a safe and happy celebration!
