Coming of Age
The second Monday in January marks Japan's official Coming of Age Day. Men and women who have turned 20 the year prior are celebrated annually. The ceremonies were hosted by local government offices recognizing the celebrants as official adults. Thus, they can meet a lot of friends from elementary school. After the ceremony, they have a party at night with friends from junior high school or high school.

On Coming of Age Day, women typically wear long-sleeved kimonos with fur, which is called Furisode.

I experienced the coming of age ceremony on January 8th. I also wore a Furisode and went to the local ceremony and party. I was fun to be able to meet people from back in the day there. To my surprise, a lot of friends had changed dramatically. There was a person who had grown 10 centimeters taller since I last met. For me, the day was very memorable because I was able to tell the words of thanks to my teachers at elementary school.