SEIJINSHIKI/ Coming Of Age Ceremony
The Coming Of Age day, also known as “Seijinshiki or Seijin No Hi” is a national Japanese holiday usually held on the second Monday of January to honor, encourage and congratulate people who have turned or will turn 20 years old.
Back then, ceremonies for the “Seijinshiki” were usually held in the early teens, but it was only after the war when Coming of Age Day ceremonies began to be celebrated as how they are being celebrated today. The ceremony to celebrate coming-of-age started in 1947 in Warabi city in Saitama prefecture. On January 15, 1949, national holiday was established. After that, it was changed to second Monday of January due to the revision of the Holiday law in 2000 AD.
In general, Seijinshiki is often held on the second Monday of January, but it might be a different case for other regions.
Many local governments in Niigata prefecture hold their coming-of-age ceremony during golden week because Niigata is one of the heaviest snow fall areas in Japan, hence, the different celebration date for Seijinshiki.
In addition to Niigata, some local governments in Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Shimane, Nagano, and Ishikawa prefectures celebrate Coming-of-age ceremonies during the Obon festival in August.
The Seijinshiki in Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture, which is famous as the place where "Disneyland" is located, will be held at Disneyland. On this day, Mickey and Minnie will also be dressed in sunny clothes as they celebrate with the new adults.
In Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture, a Coming-of-age ceremony will be held at "Kamogawa Sea World".
The laughing sea lion "Kanji", which is very popular in Kamogawa Sea World, celebrates with the new adults with a smile.
As you can see, Seijinshikis are very common in Japan, but it is just actually held only in Japan. However, even if it’s not like “Seijinshiki”, there are different ways to celebrate Coming of Age traditions from around the world.
We would like to congratulate to all students who are turning 20 this year! We hope your life may be even more blessed from this point forward.
