Seijin shiki (成人式) is the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony. It is held annually on Coming-of-Age Day (成人の日, seijin no hi), the second Monday in January. Festivities include ceremonies held at local and prefectural offices and parties amongst family and friends to celebrate passage into adulthood. This article is in need of attention. ... The term prefecture (from the Latin Praefectura) indicates the office, seat, territorial circonscription of a Prefect; consequentally, like that word, is its applied in English in relation to actual Prefects, whose title is just that (or the forms it takes in other, especially Romance, languages), in the broadest sense in...

History

The festival was created as a national holiday in 1948, when Coming-of-Age Day was set to January 15. In 1999, as a result of the Happy Monday Seido (ハッピーマンデー制度, Happy Monday Seido), Coming-of-Age Day and thus the seijin shiki, was moved to its current date of the second Monday in January. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Current Practice

The age of majority in Japan is 20. The seijin shiki covers all those who will reach this age during the current calendar year. The ceremony is generally held in the morning at local city offices and all young adults who maintain residency in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the new adults. In law, the age of majority is the age at which one acquires the full legal rights of an adult. ...

Many women celebrate this day by wearing furisode (振袖), a special kind of kimono. Most women are unable to put on a kimono by themselves, so they go to a beauty salon or other facilities to dress and to set their hair. Since formal clothing is expensive, it is usually either inherited or rented, rather than being bought specially for the occasion. While men sometimes also wear traditional dress (dark kimono or hakama), most men now wear business suits instead. Kimono on a Japanese Postage Stamp Kimono (Japanese: 着物 literally something one wears) are the traditional garments of Japan. ... Hakama worn by an aikidoka (left of the picture) An Edo-era kamishimo outfit, consisting of a kataginu (a sleeveless jacket with exaggerated shoulders) (left) and hakama (centre). ...

After the ceremony, the young adults often gather in groups and go to parties or go out drinking. Young women not used to wearing the slippers (zori) can often be seen limping as the afternoon wears on and evening approaches. Later in the evening, it is not unusual to see wobbly young adults staggering in the trains, heading happily home after a day of celebration. Zori (草履) are sandals made from rice straw or lacquered wood and are worn with a kimono for formal occasions. ...

See also

• Genpuku