Photo/Illutration Participants pose at the “gathering of 20-year-olds” in Osaka’s Tennoji Ward on Jan. 8. (Yuki Shibata)

Although the legal age of adulthood was lowered to 18 last year, many local governments continued hosting Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies for 20-year-olds.

In Osaka’s Tennoji Ward, such a ceremony was held on Jan. 8, ahead of Coming-of-Age Day on Jan. 9, a national holiday.

The traditional event was renamed a “gathering of 20-year-olds.” Most of the young adult wore kimono. 

Haruka Yamaki, a 20-year-old college sophomore who attended the gathering, said she did not feel any big change after she legally joined the ranks of adulthood.

“The only difference I can think of between 18 and 20 is that I am allowed to drink alcohol after turning 20,” she said.

Junya Tokunaga, who lives in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, to attend a college there, said the lowering of the age of majority to 18 under the revised Civil Law allowed him to enter a contract with a credit card company and rent an apartment without parental consent.

“I became more careful about managing my finances,” he said.

The Osaka city government’s decision to stage the event for 20-year-olds reflects the outcome of surveys taken in 2019 and 2020.

About 80 percent of high school students and members of the organizing committees of Coming-of-Age ceremonies in local areas supported the idea of honoring 20-year-olds at the events.

The survey respondents said most 18-year-olds are third-year students at high school and may be too busy preparing for college entrance exams or new jobs to attend such ceremonies.

The Osaka municipal government plans to continue hosting the event for 20-year-olds, rather than 18-year-olds, in the future.

Kita-Kyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture has taken a similar approach.

Through interviews with people who turn 18 in fiscal 2022, the city found that 86.7 percent of respondents preferred having the Coming-of-Age ceremony for 20-year-olds.

A city official underscored the merits of holding the event for people two years after they graduated from high school.

“It can be an opportunity for them to appreciate the favorable aspects of their hometown when they come back for the event,” the official said.

About 3,100 people attended the ceremony held in Kita-Kyushu’s Kokura-Kita Ward on Jan. 8.

Some local governments, however, have entered a transition process of eventually arranging the events only for 18-year-olds.

Iga, Mie Prefecture, held a ceremony for 20-year-olds on Jan. 8. But it plans to run a similar event for 19-year-olds in March, followed by one for 18-year-olds in May.

From next year, the Coming-of-Age ceremony for 18-year-olds will be held in May and become the new standard in the city.

“Legally, adulthood starts from 18, and we should encourage 18-year-olds to become aware of their responsibility as adults,” an official with the Iga city government said.

As for the decision to choose May, the official said college entrance exams are over and high school graduates have settled down in their new lives by that month.

Misato, a town in Miyazaki Prefecture, staged the event for 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds on Jan. 3 as a transitional measure.

The Misato town hall will hold the ceremony for 18-year-olds only in August, marking the start of its new practice.

In Tokyo, the Setagaya Ward government held a gathering for 22-year-olds on Jan. 8 because they had to forgo the Coming-of-Age ceremony in 2021 when the capital was under a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus.

The ward assembly had received requests to hold the “make-up” ceremony this year.

Yuina Yoshimura, a 22-year-old college senior, was among about 360 men and women who attended the gathering.

“I am so grateful to be able to take part in the once-in-a-lifetime event after we could not have one,” she said. “I will start my career in spring and would like to make a progress as an adult.”

Related News