teenagers please read

[deenax]

hey everyone
my name is adelina and im from australia. im currently doing an assignment at school where i comparing traditions of one culture during the teen years towards my culture.
i have chosen to do japanese as i have recently heard that the japanese have the coming of age ceremony at the age of 20.
i am in need to talk to someone who has experienced japanese adolescents and it would be really great if i could do an informal interview.
if anyone has any questions please dont hesitate do ask because i am in great need of a person.
everything will be done on the internet so no need to worry :)
please reply as soon as possible
from adelina

[Derfel]

coming of age ceremony

Lol? Coming of age ceremony? Some cult? Esoteric initiation?

[deenax]

coming of age ceremony
so like when ur allowed to drink, drive, smoke etc

[Glenski]

Derfel,
stop laughing. It's a real ceremony and event.

Deenax,
Do you want to know only about the Coming of Age Day, or about adolescence in general? The latter seems rather huge a topic. (I can't give you answers, but just trying to focus your query.)

[Derfel]

Derfel,
stop laughing. It's a real ceremony and event.


Just turned 18, and I don't feel any different. I refuse to consider it something of great importance.
I don't want to sound like a sore bastard, I understand that this is a serious task, but simply, ceremony is a little too much for such an event.

[Mikawa Ossan]

Derfel, feel however you do about it, Coming of Age is a national holiday in Japan, and all across the nation there are city/town sponsored Coming of Age day celebrations. I have emceed one such event once, and let me tell you that people here do think it's something worth celebrating.

Deenax, what kind of questions are you interested in asking? I agree with Glenski that it would be helpful to be a little more specific.

[deenax]

the kinds of questions i would be asking is
how you feel about this ceremony?
do you feel its important?
are there any other similiar ceremonies?

once i have more information i can write up a structed interview :)
thankyou to eveyone who has been interested
any more questions dont hesitate

[Damicci]

I don't think there are many, Japanese teens on this site. You may however ask adult who have already gone through this Ceremony. It's seems a bigger deal for women though. I remember watching a video about it and the people most interviewed were females.

[deenax]

adults would be fine. anyone who has been or has gone through the ceremony
would you mind telling me the name of that video?

[Damicci]

I wanted to post this link so everyone can check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Cl50YXApg


Jeshii Rahman where are you guys?????????????

[Kirakira1232]

I dont have much first hand knowledge of Japanese culture but I think the holiday your referring to is called　Seijin shiki （成人式） held on the second Monday of January which is often known as "Seijin no hi" (成人の日) or "Coming of age day."

I'm not familiar with the festivities or the reasoning behind the age of 20 too much but I do know that the Japanese do have a have a special word for the age of twenty. If you follow the normal pattern for counting age in Japanese you would think 20 would be pronounced "nijuusai"　（二十才） but instead it's pronounced "hatachi" （二十歳）。

Maybe you can contact a local university to see if they have a Japanese program and take Japanese exchange students. Perhaps they would be willing to be interviewed by you.

[sakura_blossom]

Your Welcome ..........:-)