{"id":1108,"date":"2009-01-12T23:41:12","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T14:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-12\/1108"},"modified":"2009-01-13T00:44:12","modified_gmt":"2009-01-12T15:44:12","slug":"japans-coming-of-age-day-holiday-spectacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-12\/1108","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s Coming of Age Day<\/i> Holiday Spectacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 102 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOur Youth  ·  Our Future  ·  Our Hope<\/span>\n“Coming of Age Day” 2009, Kyoto Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

I really need to learn how to use a calendar.<\/span> Yesterday I missed the fire-department\nparade<\/a> because I forgot<\/span> about it, and today for the same reason I\nmostly<\/span> missed the frightening spectacle that is Coming of Age Day<\/i> in\nJapan, a holiday<\/span> for those who turn 20 years old during the current school\nyear, celebrating their official entrance into legal adulthood. This year's\nceremonies were for those born between April 2,\n1988<\/span> and April 1, 1989,<\/span> inclusive. It's the first<\/span> to include those born during the reign of the current emperor,\nand the last for which I can<\/span> say “all these kids were in Japan before\nme”.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Home<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

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

The official city-sponsored ceremony was held twice to accommodate the\nnumbers, and I returned<\/span> from my appointment an hour and a half<\/span> after the\nfinal one had ended, but there were still some kids around, so I scrambled<\/span>\nout to try to capture a few<\/span> pictures in the half hour that remained before\nthe sun set.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGaggles of Girls<\/span>\nbig hair · bigger hopes\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGroups of Guys<\/span>\nbig hair · bigger hopes\n<\/div>\n\n

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

Today's celebrations, too, involve dressing up and visiting a shrine,<\/span>\nbut for my tastes, it's decidedly less cute. The girls, in particular,\ndress up exaggeratedly ornately, with, over the top hair, makeup, gaudy\nplastic fingernails, and, generally speaking, accessories ridiculous both\nin size and number.<\/p>\n\n

I was out for just half an hour, but in such a target<\/span>-rich environment, I had plenty<\/span> of “interesting” sights to capture. I'll save those for\nanother post; today's post are just some pictures to give an overall\nfeeling of the scene...<\/p>\n\n

The kids tended to clump into same-sex groups, with boys and girls\nrarely mixing...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 90 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Because all the kids went through school at the same time, the day is\nsomewhat of a class<\/span> reunion, so there were lots of group photos.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 135 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFriends Forever<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Random shots...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 125 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 170 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 116 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 150 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 116 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPiling In<\/span>\nit took a good minute for the four to get themselves into the taxi\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 105 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNew Adults<\/span>\nthis way\n<\/div>\n\n

I have no idea why I took the photo above, nor why I like<\/span> it so much,\nbut there's something about it that I find<\/span> appealing. The sign says<\/span> (in\nvery polite language) “New Adults”, and points the way to the hall where\nthe ceremonies took place.<\/p>\n\n

I've written many times how much I love<\/span> the cultural touch of a kimono.<\/span>\nWhether\nvisiting a shrine<\/span><\/a>,\nattending a wedding<\/span><\/a>,\nout for a stroll<\/span><\/a>,\nenjoying the cherry blossoms<\/a>,\nenjoying the fall colors<\/a>,\nout shopping<\/a>, or even just\nwatering the plants<\/a>,\nthe touch of a kimono<\/span> just adds class and cultural depth. I love it<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Today, though, was pretty much the antithesis of all that, but it\ncertainly makes for some interesting shots. I'll share more in a later<\/span>\npost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}