My first week back I taught some extra classes to cover for a teacher who didn't return from holidays in the U.S. One of those classes was a group of five teenage boys. They were typical teenagers with bad mouths and too-cool-for-school attitudes. I had them make 20 questions and one of the questions was : when will you become an adult man? They all laughed at this one; no doubt they had their own meaning for the question. But when it came time to answer they all gave a very serious reply: when I am 20 I will become an adult man.

Monday, January 13th was Coming-Of-Age Day. Every family with a child turning 20 in the coming year receives an invitation for a ceremony in their community. In Seki, around 1000 young people gathered at the community center for the Coming-Of-Age ceremony. The event is taken quite seriously, and the day is a national holiday to accomodate travel and attendance. In one of my classes a father reported that his son was returning from Okinawa in order to attend. In another class, a mother whose son is studying in Australia expressed some dissapointment that her son would not be able to return for the celebration. Attire for the ceremony is traditional kimonos for young women and suits or samurai-style dress for young men. Many treat their appearance with as much importance as if they were getting married. Beauty salons are extra busy and mothers go shopping with their daughters to buy expensive shoes, bags and makeup to accessorize their outfits. On their birthdays, young women will again wear their Kimonos -- often throughout the whole day. After the ceremony, they meet up with their grade school alumni to celebrate their passage into adulthood together.