1. Coming of Age Day (the second Monday of January)
Japan’s Coming of Age Day originated from the ancient Chinese “capping ceremony”, which has evolved to become the “coming of age ceremony” in Japan. According to folk customs, the Japanese government stipulates that people who are 20 years old must have an “coming of age ceremony” in order to make young people realize that they have become formal members of society. All young men and women who are 20 years old must wear traditional clothes on Coming of Age Day and participate in the coming of age ceremony held for them by official or non-governmental groups. The content includes young people taking an oath, elders’ congratulations, visiting shrines, and participating in various traditional cultural and entertainment activities. From then on, they can smoke, drink and get married, and they will be fully responsible for breaking the law.
Another focus of the coming of age ceremony is the traditional costumes worn at the ceremony. Men generally wear suits or traditional Japanese costumes, and women’s clothing and dress are definitely a highlight of the ceremony. A set of traditional kimonos for the coming-of-age ceremony, “furisode”, is expensive, but now many businesses have launched special dress rental services. Every year before Coming-of-age Day, you can see that businesses have posted various dresses with complex patterns and bright colors on their store websites for customers to choose from. How can this important moment in life be without taking photos? Various photography stores are competing to launch one-stop services for renting adult dresses, headdresses, and commemorative photos, which can be said to be considerate and fully meet the dream needs of girls. And the dress styles and headdresses every year are also very particular about fashion trends. It can be seen how grand this festival is in the minds of young Japanese people.
2. The Buddhist Monk’s Ode to the Autumn Festival is held on July 15 every year, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival. Japan is a country with many religious beliefs, Taoism, Buddhism, and Western Christianity coexist harmoniously on this land. Whether Japanese citizens are devout Buddhists or not, they will take to the streets and hold rallies to celebrate on this day. And major companies will also slightly adjust the rest days before and after to integrate a golden week to celebrate this second largest festival after the New Year.
During the Mulan Festival, flowers, seats, candlesticks, incense burners, bells and bell hammers, and seasonal fruits are indispensable. In addition, lanterns should be lit early before the festival arrives (usually on the 13th). You can choose hanging lanterns or table lanterns. The lanterns are always lit during the festival and will be extinguished after the festival (usually on the 16th). It is called the sacred “welcoming lanterns” and “sending lanterns”. The vegetables and fruits offered on the scripture platform include cucumbers and seeds, which are inserted with bamboo sticks to dress up as “cows” and “horses”. At the same time, during the festival, each family must change the food offerings every day and offer the newly made meals in front of the scripture platform.