Coming‐of‐age day 成人の日
In Japan, the first event after New Year's Day in January is Coming of Age Day.
Coming of Age Day is a day to celebrate young people turning 20 years old and is a national holiday in Japan.
It is for those who come of age between April 2nd of the previous year and April 1st of the same year.
Coming of Age Day is celebrated on the second Monday of January every year.
Each town gathers together to celebrate. It is called the coming-of-age ceremony.
Women wear gorgeous kimonos.
In the case of women, a kimono is worn for the coming-of-age ceremony. This kimono is called a furisode. A furisode is a kimono worn by a single woman.
The women are very busy in the morning, getting their hair done to match.
Men, on the other hand, often wear suits. Therefore, there is not as much preparation as for women.
Some men wear Montsukihakama, a traditional Japanese dress. It's a Japanese costume.
In some areas, it is done in the summer.
As I said it was the second Monday of January, this is also the season when it snows a lot. In some areas, it was impossible to get to the venue of the coming-of-age ceremony because of the snow.
Therefore, in some areas, the coming-of-age ceremony is held in the summer or during a long holiday weekend.
In Japan, people over the age of 18 become adults.
In fact, from April of 2022, Japanese law will change and people over the age of 18 will become adults. Therefore, there will be many changes in the future.
