Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to celebrate 成人式 (seijinshiki) or the Coming of Age Ceremony in Japan. In Japan, the age of maturity is 20 years old. It's such a landmark in a person's life, that there's a special word in Japanese for '20 years old.' Versus every other age where you would state your age as you would count regularly in Japanese, when you're 20 years old, you say 二十歳 (hatachi), instead of 'nijuu,' the regular counter for 20. The 歳 in hatachi, stands for year-end, age, occasion, and opportunity. Coming of Age day is truly a once in a lifetime event, that is only held for all those whose 20th birthday falls between April 2 of the previous year, and April 1 of the current year. The age of 20 marks adulthood in Japanese culture, and also grants the right to vote. This year, only two of us exchange students qualified to take part in the Coming of Age Ceremony. Myself, and an exchange stduent from Australia, Mark.
For the Ceremony, Mark and I were dressed in the traditional Japanese Hakama. The girl in the middle dressed in the Kimono is our friend, Shiho. It took alomost an hour for us to get dressed. We waited in a room as several women came in holding the different fabrics we would be wearing, and since everything goes on in a specific order and in specific patterns, it's easy to see why putting them on took so long. The girls, however, take even longer. One of the women that was dressing us mentioned that her daughter and their friends woke up at 3 in the morning to get their hair done at the beauty salon before getting ready for the ceremony. At the Coming of Age Ceremony, all the girls wear Kimono's and most of the guys wore suits, though there were quite a few guys wearing hakamas as well. Though the Hakama is traditional, it's a lot cheaper for guys to wear a suit. The girls, however, are not so fortunate. One of our friends who participated in the ceremony last year said her grandparents spent $4000 on her Kimono. And that was just to rent it for the day. It all has to do with the Kimono being made of pure silk, and having so many intricate designs and colors on it. As well as there being many layers to it.
The ceremony itself was held in a Gymnasium. The ceremony wasn't at all that long. Maybe not even an hour. There was a drum performance, a stage acting performance, a few speeches, and a children's bell choir. After all that, the ceremony was over, and everyone gatehred around outside to talk with friends.
At first, Mark and I didn't see much of a point to this celebration. The main celebration lasted for only one hour, and everyone spent so much money on expensive clothing to wear to an hour long ceremony. While it was nice seeing everyone there enjoying themselves, it seemed a bit strange to get so worked up since it wasn't what we had been expecting. It wasn't until later in the week when we were discussing Coming of Age in class with fellow Japanese students that I understood. They said it was a chance for them to reconnect with friends, some of which they have not seen since middle school. As I said before, 20 is the age of maturity, when the young people are viewed as adults. So in a sense, it's like them finally seeing their friends for the first time as adults, being able to watch one another grow up leading to a once in a lifeitme event marking adulthood, despite how short the ceremony may be. Maybe the ceremony wasn't meant to be anything big, but rather a chance for those who are participating to see how much not only they, but everyone they have come to know has changed and what type of adult they have become.
Here's one final picture of Mark, our friend, Akane, and me. We were standing outside the buiding where the Coming of Age Ceremony was held. And like everyone else around us, we were connecting with the friends we made during our short time here, happy that we could share this once in a lifetime event with them. Even if we may never see some of these people ever again after this exchange, the memory of this glorious event will always be in our hearts.
またね！
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