Seiji no Hi

The second Monday of January is designated Coming of Age Day, or "Seiji no Hi" in Japan. It is a national holiday dedicated to those who turn 20 years of age that year. In Japan 20 years of age signifies adulthood because it is the legal age of voting (also drinking and smoking). Many young people dress in traditional Japanese Kimono and go to local festivals.

On this day, I was not getting dressed for Seiji no Hi. In fact, I'm not even 20 years old. I was going to a tea ceremony with my host mother and her friend, Saeki-san. I borrowed my host father's Kimono which happened to fit perfectly. In the morning one of my host mother's friends came over to help us dress ourselves in Kimono. It is a very difficult process, especially for women, which involves various articles of clothing and intricate fastening methods. The Obi, or bow in the back of a Kimono, is particularly difficult to tie by oneself.

After we "suited up," I felt pretty dangerous, especially in the Geta, a traditional Japanese wooden shoe. It was then off to the tea ceremony. When we arrived I walked in to find about 15 people stuffed into a very tiny tea room. Everyone looked very surprised to see me, and to tell the truth I was pretty shocked to see that many people in one room. There were two small children, a bunch of middle aged folks, and at least one very old woman. After I introduced myself, about half the people left the room so the other half could have the first cup of tea. There is a very intricate process involved in the delivery and consumption of Ocha, or Japanese green tea. Throughout most of the ceremony I was too busy thinking about how much my legs hurt in the Seiza position to notice what was going on. Even through the pain, I didn't fidget and drank my tea with a smile and some pleasant conversation.

After the first cup of tea, everyone left the room so the other half could have a taste. Many of the people at the tea ceremony were students, so they took turns carrying the tea in and out of the room. I was invited to have a second cup of tea with the other half of the group. Afterwards, people came back into the room to eat lunch, a prepared Obento (Japanese lunch box). People commented as usual on my ability to eat all types of Japanese food. I was just feeling unusually hungry.

After the tea ceremony and a few pictures, Kawai-san, Saeki-san, and I went to Saeki-san's mother's house. She was very happy to see us and served us some tea and cookies which made me smile. Saeki-san’s mother is very good at sewing, and showed us pieces of her handicraft about the house. After finishing our tea we went to the house of a man who was at the tea ceremony earlier. He had told me that he liked to make things out of wood, such as the fence surrounding the Japanese garden at the tea ceremony teacher's house. Inside of his house were more crafted items, including a large wooden table made by hand. We were offered more tea (which I took happily because of the blustery weather) and snapped some pictures in his tea room.

Afterwards, the three of us walked home where I changed back into regular clothes. That evening my family and Saeki-san's family went to eat at a nearby restaurant, where tons of fun were had. Jirou-sensei, the man who playes the guitar very well, is rather outgoing and funny when he has a few drinks. I also found out that his full time job is not teaching music, although he does give lessons quite often. He works for a company which makes food for livestock and birds. His company is in turn owned, or somehow related to DIC. You may remember DIC (or at least I did) as the company that used to sponsor children's television shows on PBS and a few other networks. Inspector Gadget was sponsored by DIC.

Afterwards, the three of us walked home where I changed back into regular clothes. That evening my family and Saeki-san's family went to eat at a nearby restaurant. Jirou-sensei, Saeki-san’s husband, is hands down the best guitar player I have ever seen. I found out that his full time job is not teaching music, although he does give lessons quite often. He works for a company which makes food for livestock and birds. His company is in turn owned, or somehow related to DIC. You may remember DIC (or at least I did) as the company that used to sponsor children's television shows on PBS and a few other networks. Inspector Gadget was sponsored by DIC.

All in all, I had a lovely day. The Kimono was quite comfortable, if only it hadn’t been so windy outside.