Yesterday was a public holiday known as "Seijin no Hi" [成人の日[せいじんのひ]] or "Coming of age day" where those who have turned 20 are declared adults meaning they can now do SDV (Smoke, Drink and Vote).
In the past, the coming of age day was celebrated only among samurai families - for boys it was between 12 - 16 and for girls it was between 12 - 14((Wikipedia).
Went with writer and art director comrade Andrew Lee (who took these pics) out n about to look for fluffy rabbits - and we found many.
Starting off with a few pics of my fave girls - one to the top right of this pic.
Very sweet. Gorgeous curly hair.
More sweet fluffy rabbits.
The coming of age day is held on the second Monday of January. The Shin Seijin [新成人[しんせいじん]] or "New Adults" would gather at the local ward office and listen to some pep talk given by the governing authorities - usually along the lines of "you are responsible adults now, stop playing with your dolphin and help out with the declining population. And don't rob banks while you are at it."
Some of the New Adults would then go to a shrine and get together with old school class mates in what is known as a Dousoukai [同窓会[どうそうかい]] - you may have heard this word in anime or eroge where old school class mates get together after a few years and have ecchi on the same night.
The girls wear a traditional garment known as Furisode [振袖[ふりそで]] which they normally rent. Rental for these garments for *one day* can cost up to and over 150,000 yen (not a typo ^^;) from online rental stores like Gohuku.
Many folks out n about to take pics of (mainly) the girls.
And if you are wondering - been told that most of the fluff is fake fur.
Started off in Harajuku but only saw a handful of rabbits. Andrew has a blueprint of the Shibuya/Yoyogi and Harajuku area printed on his left knee and showed me a shortcut from Harajuku to Shibuya which will change the way I travel around this area.
While many of the lads will go for a business suit, some still go for the traditional Hakama [袴[はかま]] - again can be rented online for something like 38,000 yen from places like Huuryuu.
With no catch at Harajuku, we arrived at the CC Lemon Hall in Shibuya. As local ward offices can only fit a certain number of people, the CC Lemon hall is used to fit in the rest.
The fire brigade was out in force - now that you are adults, they would like you to be a good citizen and help put out those fires.
Some of the new adult lads. Looks like the guy in the middle was given a congrats-you-are-now-an-adult beating judging from the bruises to his face.
If you want to catch some Seijin no Hi festivities next year, I would advice that you go to the CC Lemon hall in Shibuya at about 12:30 - you will have an hour of photos before they all go in at about 1:30.
Spotted many fellow gaijin out n about in the area taking photos too.
Its usually OK to ask for photos with the girls as they spent a lot of money to look good for the day - they generally want to be looked at. And if you are in armor then many ask to have their photo with you ^^;
Kawaii zo!
As far as I know, we didn't have any form of celebrations in the UK for folks who become adults - any in your neck of the woods?
Which brings me to a related question that I asked many moons ago but am curious as to what the demographics are now - how old is you being?
There is a poll embedded in this article.
If you arrive at the CC Lemon too late, you will find the place pretty much deserted.
Me cant remember the year that I turned 20 at all...
Some of these in the Wallpaper Pool.
Some of the lads do get a bit rowdy though.
This guy promises to give up on Tenga and dakimakura.
Video clip of how the New Adults celebrated Seijin no Hi in 2012.
All these were taken on the Lumix LX3.
Pretending to be a member of staff handing out goodies to the new adults.
This photo is 1 of a series of 3.
The second in the series...
And the third - caption these photos ^^;
And after the CC Lemon hall, it was off to Shibuya to see more shenanigans to be covered in another article. Bumped into this lovely lady on the way.
