seijin no hi 成人の日

January 14

Coming of age and the coming of snow

Long time, no see. We escaped to Australia for a warm Christmas and New Year. How I missed fresh, cheap mangoes, warm nights and dry, sunny days. But we're back to Tokyo, and the cold.

Yesterday was "Seijin no hi", or Coming of Age Day, when everyone turning 20 this year, has an official celebration. It was also the worst snow in the Tokyo area for about 17 years. Cue scenes of girls in elaborate furisode (long-sleeved kimono worn by unmarried women), complete with platform zori shoes and little socks, shrieking as they plunged ankle-deep through the snow.

Cold feet!

I teach part-time at a university, and a lot of my students were looking forward to Seijin no hi, which for the girls, involved getting up around 4am for hair and makeup and dressing (you can get a package including kimono rental, hair etc and studio photos, but it books up early - like a year in advance). Some of my more traditional, "ojousama" girls were going to wear their mother's kimono. The girls from AKB48 wore quite retro kimono this year, and it seems to be a bit of a trend to wear an old-school design.

One of the AKB48 girls - don't ask me who - with a very retro pattern.

The serious fashion girls are more into taisho and early showa styles, with very simple hair. I think they look particularly gorgeous, but they're in the minority. Most girls go for very fluffy, cutesy styles with extra frills, diamantes and over-the-top hair.

Aoi Yu in the drama "Osen", playing a hard drinking restrauteur with a taste for taisho-style kimono

A nice example of "taisho chic" with bold prints and simple accessories.

Most guys wear suits, though a few go for traditional hakama styles. There were some "yankee" guys (badly bleached hair, inexplicably shaved eyebrows, etc) in very colourful hakama.

So what's it all about? It's a way to mark the official transition to adulthood - at age 20, they are free to marry who they please, vote and drink. Actually, most 19 year olds already drink. Local councils hold official ceremonies for the year's 20 year olds, where they get small presents and stirring speeches. Some councils had collected and kept letters that the kids (sorry, I'm old - anyone under 25 is a kid to me!) wrote to themselves at age 10.  One of the biggest celebrations is at the Yokohama Arena with thousands of kimono clad young adults, but those lucky enough to live in Urayasu, Chiba, can go to Disneyland and be welcomed by Mickey. Those in Shibuya met another new 20 year old, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who lived up to her zany reputation with a modern kimono decorated with flying horses.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Some of the Shibuya gals - fashion's adventurers - went for the "Oiran" look this year, modelled on Edo-era courtesans. Although with their bared shoulders, they were more like Anna Tsuchiya in "Sakuran" than traditional oiran.

Anna Tsuchiya in Sakuran

Apparently, Seijin no Hi has been around since AD 714, when a young prince decided to dress up to celebrate becoming an adult, but it's been widely popular since 1876, when the official age of adulthood was set at 20.

And so, that snow. Around 10.30am, it started to snow. And snow. It snowed for about 7 hours, stopping trains, airplanes and cars and closing down the highways.

It started innocently enough...

And didn't stop.

Our gate with little snow caps.

One of our neighbours started shovelling snow around midday, but he was losing the battle. Finally, around 5pm, the snow turned to light rain and we all headed outside to make a path. We live in a quiet cul-de-sac, so we're responsible for our own road. While it was light and fluffy, shovelling was pretty easy, but the fear was it would freeze into hard lumps overnight. It's certainly a good workout! With the neighbours working together, it was actually quite cheerful. That's one of the things I like about living here - everyone pulls together. They were disappointed that it wasn't "my first snow sighting", though. Within an hour, we had a walkable path down to the main road, and everyone had a safe driveway.

Digging a path

Our "road".

Through the night, as the snow thudded off our roof, I had to remind myself that it was just snow, not people jumping on my head. This morning, I looked out and I could see treacherous ice. Kind of scary. The TV is warning everyone to be careful not to slip. I'll be stomping like a crazy woman in my heavy boots. Not at all elegant, or fashionable, but I won't be the one with a wet backside! Keep safe, everyone!