Coming of Age Day

Howdy Everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I know I did, and it was all thanks to Coming of Age Day, or Seijin no Hi. On Coming of Age Day, many young women dress in kimono, most young men wear suits, and everyone goes to a party in their hometown to see old friends, maybe a shrine to make good wishes for the next stage of their life, and then a drinking party afterwards.

I personally think that Coming of Age Day is a wonderful tradition. First of all, kimono are beautiful. I love to see people wearing them- I wish more men would decide to wear kimono as well! Second of all, the idea of becoming an adult with old friends from junior high or high school seems very fitting to me. You knew each other as children, and now you enter the adult world together.

Lastly, I think that becoming an adult all at once is a good thing. In the United States, we become legal adults when we are 18 years old. We can vote, get married, and even smoke. But we cannot drink alcohol until we turn 21. I like the Japanese way of bundling everything together so that wehn you turn 20, you can enjoy all the rights of an adult instead of growing up little by little.

I don't think that any of our students participated in Coming of Age Day this year, but maybe some of our students' children or even grandchildren did. I wish all the new adults luck in the next stage of their life, and I hope that everyone had an enjoyable vacation thanks to them.

KFC Christmas

KFC = Christmas?

In the U.S., Christmas day is very quiet and the majority of shops are closed. Everyone gets together with family to feast on Turkey or ham and exchange gifts. But in Japan, transportation continues on as normal, shops stay open and everyone goes to work. What is even more interesting is that unlike the 20 pound turkey or ham we, Americans, eat on Christmas with family, most Japanese feast on KFC and Christmas cake. Since arriving in Japan, I have been told time and time again that Kentucky Fried Chicken is a Christmas tradition. I even heard that many make reservations weeks in advance for their KFC Christmas dinner. Now how did they come up with a tradition as unusual as that?

Although it exists, turkey isn’t common in Japan and isn’t even associated with Christmas. Colonel Saunders and the numerous advertising campaigns surrounding KFC has embedded into the minds of most Japanese, that KFC = Christmas. Maybe it’s the fact that Colonel Saunders bears resemblance to the jolly Santa Claus himself. Better yet, it might just be because his statue outside every KFC is decked out in full Santa Claus gear. Whatever the reason may be, KFC has become the image of Christmas, a tradition that I must say, is a Japanese twist to the Christian Christmas tradition of turkey/ham.