Seijin no Hi is celebrated in Japan on the 2nd Monday of January. It’s in honor of everyone who has become 20 years old since the previous year’s Seijin no Hi. Twenty is when people become legal adults in Japan. It’s when they can drink, vote, smoke and enter into legal contracts.
In honor of the occasion, 20 year old women dress in lavish kimonos called furisode kimonos. The men wear traditional kimonos, or more often, suits. The twenty year olds may go to Shinto Shrines with their families to pray for a prosperous future.
Seijin no Hi is a national holiday in Japan. Around the country, the local governments hold ceremonies, called Seijin Shiki, which all of the 20 year olds are welcome to attend. Government officials give speeches and hand out little presents.
The 20 year olds are given speeches about their responsibilities as adults.
After all the ceremonies, the 20 year olds will often go out at night to celebrate their special day.
So if you’ve recently turned 20, Happy Seijin no Hi!
Lisa
This article was posted on Saturday, January 7th, 2006 at 12:44 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Japan, Japanese, Seijin no Hi - A Coming of Age Ceremony in Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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January 14th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
The Coming Of Age Festival – Seijin no hi…
The Coming of Age festival is celebrated on the second Monday of January. The day used to be celebrated always on January 15 until the year 1999…
It was a great day here yesterday, lots of photos to share if you’re interested.