Coming of Age Day
Mood:  bright
Here's another amazing national holiday in Japan. This one honors the 20 year olds. Every man and woman who will turn 20 this year has the opportunity to dress up, for the women, in gorgeous kimono and, for the men, in cool black suits. Actually, i saw one guy all decked up in kimono as well. All day long i watched them present themselves at the shrines, and i'm guessing that they pray for their future careers and lives. As we walked around town i think that there is another dynamic at work. It looked to me like the guys and gals were checking out the eligible bachelors and bachelor-ettes in their finest attire. It's hard to imagine the US having a special holiday to celebrate our youth "Coming of Age." Maybe it would be a good idea instead of celebrating dead presidents! (No offense to our beloved presidents, but sometimes it seems that we could do a bit of formally recognizing our kids and telling them that they are important too!)