Coming of Age Day in Japan (10/01)

«I want to find a prestigious job and rise through the ranks», «I will continue the family business and will do everything to ensure that my father’s company prospers», «I want to get married successfully and live in a big house», «I want to earn a lot of money, travel the world and study culture of different peoples»...

These are just some of the answers from the boys and girls participating in the coming-of-age ceremony to the question: «What do you want to achieve as adults?».

They become adults in Japan at the age of 20, and every year on the second Monday of January, all of Japan celebrates Coming of Age Day (Japanese). 人の日, Seijin no Hee).

At the age of 20, Japanese boys and girls receive the rights and responsibilities of adults: from this age they can take part in elections, bear full responsibility before the law, and are subject to labor laws. In addition, it is from the age of 20 that young people are officially allowed to smoke and drink alcohol.

On Coming of Age Day, everyone who turns 20 this year accepts congratulations and parting words at a specially organized ceremony. Girls, as a rule, wear kimonos of bright colors with long sleeves, the so-called furisode. Young men usually wear festive black suits, although in recent years many have preferred a men's kimono.

Typically, city authorities organize gala gatherings and parties for «-new adults», at which the heroes of the occasion are presented with memorable gifts. Everyone receives a personal invitation from the head of the local administration or educational institution. The authorities receive a list of 20-year-old citizens, oddly enough, from the tax department: every Japanese is required to pay a tax on their residence.

Tax evaders do not receive invitations and are not allowed to attend the ceremony. The heroes of the occasion themselves, having felt freedom, cannot always stop in time. Comrades bring home those who have had too much, but the next morning their conscience will not torment them, because such behavior (within the limits permitted by law and morality) is not considered shameful on this day.

Officially, Coming of Age Day became a holiday in 1948. Before this, the initiation ceremony into adulthood took place not publicly, but in a local church or quietly with family.

Initially, Coming of Age Day was celebrated on January 15, and, naturally, often the holiday weekend fell in the middle of the week. Just one day on this occasion — is very little, and, in addition, young people have a tradition on the Day of Coming of Age to return to their hometown to their parents’ home and celebrate adulthood with their family and childhood friends.

In 1998, a law was passed according to which, since 2000, the holiday was moved from a fixed date to the second Monday of January. The youth received the legal three days to celebrate, and all Japanese began to call the day «happy Monday».

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