Coming of Age in Japan

Yeah! I found it. This is it. This is what I did when I was 20 year's old. I got on a roller coaster in Kimono with my girlfriends. We celebrated the fact that we became legally an adult this day. This picture was taken on the Coming of Age day, 1/9/2006, in Japan and taken actually in the same amusement park where I went for my day.

Japan's Coming of Age day is known as "Seijin no Hi" which is every second Monday of January. It is a national holiday. On this special day all streets of Japan are filled with happy boys and girls in Kimono, Hakama and etc. They usually attend the ceremony prepared by the city government. I heard that this year there was one Seijin no Hi ceremony inside Disney Land for 20-year-olds in Urayasu area. I envy them. After the ceremony they party, go sing Karaoke and dancing. Always some boys fight and get in trouble. It's a fun day.
Did you know that in Japan they can start drinking alcohol and voting after they turn 20 year's old? When you become 20, you are a legal adult in Japan. If you commit a crime they show your full name and face on TV news and the newspapers. But until you are 20, you are boy A and boy B.
Here in the United States you can vote if you are 18 or above. But somehow you cannot drink until you are 21. You are mature enough to vote at 18, but not mature enough to drink. Is that the reason why? Interesting...

p.s. For Japanese language learners,
Only Japanese people in the U. S. say "Disney Land". People in Japan say "TDL" which is a short for "Tokyo Disney Land". "TDL" sounds cooler, I guess. And also we love to abbreviate everything.