I really need to learn how to use a calendar. Yesterday I missed the fire-department parade because I forgot about it, and today for the same reason I mostly missed the frightening spectacle that is Coming of Age Day in Japan, a holiday for those who turn 20 years old during the current school year, celebrating their official entrance into legal adulthood. This year's ceremonies were for those born between April 2, 1988 and April 1, 1989, inclusive. It's the first to include those born during the reign of the current emperor, and the last for which I can say “all these kids were in Japan before me”.

I was reminded about the day when I left for an appointment after lunch and was immediately greeted with total gridlock. It's an occasion for many of the new adults to visit a shrine, and the Heian Shrine is one of the most popular for it, so for that reason enough it would be crazy-busy around here, but the city hosts a big ceremony at the Kyoto City Chamber of Commerce exhibition hall, which is even closer to my place than the Heian Shrine.

The official city-sponsored ceremony was held twice to accommodate the numbers, and I returned from my appointment an hour and a half after the final one had ended, but there were still some kids around, so I scrambled out to try to capture a few pictures in the half hour that remained before the sun set.

Another big “visit a shrine” day is shichi-go-san, a holiday for children aged 7, 5, and 3, where they visit a shrine for special blessings. The kids are, generally, all dressed up and cute enough to eat, and it's just wonderful to sit and watch them.

Today's celebrations, too, involve dressing up and visiting a shrine, but for my tastes, it's decidedly less cute. The girls, in particular, dress up exaggeratedly ornately, with, over the top hair, makeup, gaudy plastic fingernails, and, generally speaking, accessories ridiculous both in size and number.

I was out for just half an hour, but in such a target-rich environment, I had plenty of “interesting” sights to capture. I'll save those for another post; today's post are just some pictures to give an overall feeling of the scene...

The kids tended to clump into same-sex groups, with boys and girls rarely mixing...

Because all the kids went through school at the same time, the day is somewhat of a class reunion, so there were lots of group photos.

Random shots...

I have no idea why I took the photo above, nor why I like it so much, but there's something about it that I find appealing. The sign says (in very polite language) “New Adults”, and points the way to the hall where the ceremonies took place.

I've written many times how much I love the cultural touch of a kimono. Whether visiting a shrine, attending a wedding, out for a stroll, enjoying the cherry blossoms, enjoying the fall colors, out shopping, or even just watering the plants, the touch of a kimono just adds class and cultural depth. I love it.

Today, though, was pretty much the antithesis of all that, but it certainly makes for some interesting shots. I'll share more in a later post.