2020 US-Japan Friendship Coming of Age Celebration
N.A.P., Article retrieved and edited from JIA Foundation press release
SEIJIN-no-hi, Coming of Age Day, is a national Japanese holiday held on the second Monday of January to honor young adults who turned 20 years old over the past year. It is a way of welcoming them into society and is an essential rite of passage for the Japanese people. On SEIJIN-no-hi, ceremonies called SEIJIN-shiki take place across Japan in city halls and other official centers. Customarily, people return to their hometowns for this celebration. Young women dress in a gorgeous kimono called furisode for the ceremony and young men wear hakama, the traditional men’s kimono.
It is an opportunity for newly recognized adults to receive encouraging advice for this next chapter of their lives. As newly gained freedom and responsibilities are celebrated in the company of family members and old friends, this moment is one that people remember for the rest of their lives.
In 2020, JIA Foundation is bringing this tradition to Seattle as it will host “US-Japan Friendship Coming of Age Celebration” on January 19, 2020 from 1 pm to 3:30 pm at Bellevue College Carlson Theater. “Our children grow up benefitting from the wide range of enriching Japanese cultural programs offered in the Seattle area. Many of them attend Japanese language schools on top of the already heavy workloads that they have from their regular schooling. Their commitment can also be seen in their service as community volunteers for Japanese cultural programs,” says Megumi Ijiri, JIA Foundation president. “It is our turn to honor their hard work by sending them off to the next stage of their lives with our love and support.”
“US-Japan Friendship Coming of Age Celebration” welcomes everybody who has an affinity for Japanese culture. You don’t need a furisode or hakama. You don’t need to speak Japanese. All you need is a love for the Japanese culture and our community. Emceed by Lori Matsukawa, the event will be held in English for attendees with multi-cultural and multi-national backgrounds.
The JIA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) NPO founded in 2014 to meet the needs of the current wave of Japanese immigrants and expats who benefit greatly from Japanese language specific services. “JIA” is an acronym which stands for Japanese in America.
JIA is currently looking for planning volunteers and funding supporters. For more information, visit the event’s official website http://japaneseinamerica.org/seijinshiki/ or contact seijin@japaneseinamerica.org. The event is open to the public for free. RSVP is required online.
