Japan struggling to hold Coming-of-Age Day events due to COVID surge

February is safe for this event. But feeling sad about youngsters

Hoping all goes well from now for Japan’s young adults. It’s been one disappointment-after-another in the last two years for this group. Enjoy these events.

Yeah, we have some 20 years old people who have really had some of the "best" years of their lives taken from them as far as having good times. that is sad but they still have time to enjoy themselves later, I hope.

I feel more for kids who have had 2 years of their education disrupted over something that primarily affects adults not them. I wonder how we will help them to recover 2 years of knowledge they missed so that it wont put them at a disadvantage later in life.

Without the traditions, it all falls apart, people might start to think for themselves.

My city done it with 3 seats social distance (Chiba). Then after the ceremony, everyone was gathering outside in groups taking selfies, parents joining in too and everyone laughing and joking. As my friend said “what’s the point of social distancing inside when not one person is doing it outside?”

I feel sorry for all the young people who are missing out on important events as a result of pointless measures instituted by governments around the world.

And all the teachers and other workers in the schools are all adults.

Yes and they are double vaccinated and boosted and masked.

What’s problem then? Educate our children and do your job. Or quit.

From virtually the time they graduate high school, but especially at the time of the Coming of Age event, most of these Japanese kids are totally unrecognizable. The dyed hair (typically a red/brown color), the curly hair styles (in the case of girls), but especially the layers of caked makeup. Its truly spectacular.

Congratulations on becoming an adult. Now go buy 3 suits and work 60 hours a week.

Vaccinations for teachers and other school workers are not compulsory. 

Even better then. No one is prevented from working. Then you can vax if it makes you feel safe or not vax if you think the vaccine doesn’t prevent COVID.

best of both worlds and no one is disenfranchised.

Good! Nobody who is coming of age here in Japan likes going to those ceremonies anyway. They are just excuses for the elderly mayors and leaders of local municipalities to drone on and on about things that are not even relvant to young people. All the young want to do is to hang out with their friends and party in their suits/Kimonos (and good on them). And Covid-19 won't stop that.

Perhaps there is a silver lining here in that the ceremony part of the Coming of Age day will be dropped from next year. Time to get with the times.

Just get rid of the whole custom.

Why not just get together with your close friends and go to the bar or club, just like normal people in other countries.

Other than seeing an entire arena full of women in Kimono, what else is needed from the ceremony?

A bunch of old men giving 30 minute put you to sleep speeches? Or a bunch of young wanna be biker poser morons looking to impress no one?

I would be sad seeing so many beautiful girls being sad :(

Tora…. You must not know many people here. Mostly they all love it! And family and friends too! It is great!

it is a way better tradition with proper fermenting than in Australia for an 18th party or previously 21st party back in the day.

I love seeing my friends photos from their coming of age, whether they are now 80 years old or 22.

I think that's literally the first time I've seen a bunch of young Japanese women taking a picture without even a single one of them flashing the 'peace' sign.

The wards should let them enjoy their COMING OF AGE CEREMONIES instead of canceling it because it's the end of the road for them in terms of life and freedom. Soon after they'll be enslaved to some corporate company that'll force them to work 90+ hours a week, force them to go to unnecessary drinking events, and if you're a woman, be bullied and harassed until you get married and pregnant, and then they'll fire you.

It doesn't matter what preventative measures are taken. Omicron is going to spread. Soon, hundreds of thousands of people will be infected just like in America. The good news? The symptoms of this variant are relatively mild, and those who have been vaccinated are very unlikely to be hospitalized. Even better, this variant will likely provide strong and lasting immunity to the Chinese coronavirus for most of the nation.

Coming of Age rites are vital to ensuring cultures live on or you end up with a permanent adolescence like the modern West... this postponement is pure patheticness from the supposed adults who can't take a slightly strong flu to pass on the baton to the next generation who are going to pay their pensions!

I think you've got your rose colored glasses on. I find that youths in Japan are far more immature and unable to 'adult' until they're well into their mid to late twenties; and even then, there are certain aspects of adulthood that they're just baffled and confounded by. It doesn't help that so many of them continue to live at home with their parents and therefore have limited knowledge on how to keep track of their finances because they're not paying rent and bills. They're also either more hesitant to make serious and potentially life-changing decisions or do so recklessly because they firmly believe they can fall back on their parents financial support if they fail.

As there are fewer twenty year olds year after year, they should be able to enjoy and celebrate their youth. They even have to wear masks, especially the young women with prettied up faces and beautiful kimonos. Too many old politicians that have forgotten what youth was like control Japan with restrictions. Respect to the Old Day out number the seijin no hi nowadays.