Kimono Beauties – Coming of Age Day

The coming of age day, the Seijin no hi, is one of the best public holidays in Japan. Even though very few foreigners are in a position to participate there is nothing better than just walking around Tokyo on the day (always a Monday) and see all the gorgeous young people dressed up for their big day. Where I’m from and I guess it is the same in many other western countries, coming of age day is mostly alcohol related. Although early January is very cold, there are few better days to spend an entire day walking around! The kimono is also a surprisingly warm garment, on the few occasions I have worn it I have never been cold. Enjoy!

Coming of Age Day

Yesterday was the big Coming of Age Day, the “seijin no hi” (成人の日) which is a public holiday in Japan. It is dedicated to celebrate all the people who will be 20 years old this year and this is one of the most important highlights in any Japanese persons life. Usually cities and town have big ceremonies where they invite young people to take part of inspirational speeches and various ceremonies. It is also a good opportunity for young people to get back together with friends from school that they might not have seen for a year or so after leaving for college. People generally dress up and most people wear the kimono although a lot of men and some women prefer wearing suits or something more personalized. You might remember the tons of other posts I have done on this subject! I didn’t have much time this year so I just took a walk through Harajuku and Shibuya, passing the big Meiji Shrine and getting a few snap shots of the people there. This year it was quite crowded for some reason, but fewer celebrants than usual. Here’s one beauty carefully dedicating a ema plate to the shrine. I also found a ema with some funny wishes, the girl, Haruna, who wrote this (not the one I took a photo of!) hopes that she will become a hairdresser and cut everyone’s hair! She also wants to be bright as a light bulb and she wishes good luck in her studies, particularly her English studies. Good luck Haruna!

Miko – Temple Maiden

In May I was in Shimane Prefecture on the North coast of Japan and managed to find the time to pay my respects to the grave of Izumo No Okuni, probably the most famous woman in Japan during the 17th century. She is regarded as the founder of the kabuki theatre tradition, a feat that seems almost impossible once you consider her humble origins as blacksmiths daughter. Interestingly enough she got her career started as a “miko”, which literally means Shaman Girl but could more fittingly be translated as temple maiden. This got me thinking about all the hundreds of miko I have seen around Japan since I first came here. Chances are that you have seen a few yourself, they are the young girls in red hakama and white kimono that staff most shinto shrines around the country. Back in the old days they were literally considered spirit medium (one the most interesting places in Japan with a connection to this ancient mythos is in Okinawa, a subject I’ll save for a later post), but these days they are more likely to be 17-22 year old students earning a bit of pocket money.

Visiting the grave of the most famous miko in Japan made me remember this snap shot I took back in January of a miko in Meiji Shrine, Tokyo. I must have been there dozens of times in the last few years and I am pretty sure she recognizes me by now.

Meiji Shrine – March 25th

Virtually every single person who visits Tokyo as a tourist makes sure to see the main shrine of the capital, the Meiji Jingu (Meiji Grand Shrine in English). I have blogged about this wonderfully beautiful shinto shrine in the heart of Tokyo many times before, but I believe that very few people (if any) have ever seen the shrine as I did on March 25th, just a few days ago. There were almost no visitors at all! Usually, even on weekday afternoons there are few visitors but even then the place is full of tourists and locals.

I managed to get a few shots of the main shrine almost deserted from visitors, but I hung out at the shrine long enough to get a fashion check kind of shot (didn’t really expect such a stylish visitor!) and two school girls in a very good mood. Enjoy, you probably won’t ever see this again!