The coming-of-age ceremony
I remembered deciding the color of my Furisode from an overwhelming selection as if it was yesterday. On 13 of January, I once again saw the Furisode I chose 10 months ago. It was absolutely gorgeous after all. I had no regards about the color and design I chose. When I wore the Furisode, I became extremely excited about heading down to the ceremony, which would start in less than 2 hours.The coming-of-age ceremony is held annually in order to congratulate people who have reached or will be 20 years old between April 2nd in a previous year to April 1st in a current year. The age of becoming an adult is 20 years old in Japan, so this is the ceremony that celebrates new adults. The coming-of-age ceremonies are usually held at public halls. 6 - 10 thousand people are gathered in each public hall, which means it’s a chance to see old friends again. Girls dress in Furisode, which is traditional clothing of Japan. We have to prepare it at the earliest 1 year prior because if you prepare it only 1 or 2 months prior, you wouldn’t find the best one for you. Many girls would have already taken the most beautiful ones. After we buy them, we store them until the ceremony day. On the day of ceremony we take the dress to a beauty salon to get a Furisode-dresser to dress us and also we have a hairdresser style our hair beautifully in the very early morning on the ceremony day. (In my case, I went to a salon at 6 am. But my friend told me she’d had to go at 4 am. My time sounds late although it was so early for me. haha) I believe it’s the day that women can be their most beautiful self, while also being their toughest day of that year.On the way to the ceremony, I remembered my olds friends who I met elementary school and junior high school. I was wondering who I would meet there. The friend who I fooled around with, the friend I didn’t get along with, the friend I was thick as thieves with and also my first love. Each one of their faces came to mind as I thought of them. I was looking forward to seeing them. The minute I got the venue I was more than excited. All of a sudden, I bump into one of my friends from high school. It was such a pleasure seeing her again. I’m regret not talking to her that much because I had seen another friend and I rushed headlong to see her...As meeting lots of my friends, I felt nostalgic. They seemed like they had all changed, but they were still the people I remember them to be. Everyone had something that never changed, which made me feel delighted. While we were taking a trip down memory lane, I remembered many forgotten memories with each of them. My school life memories came flooding back vividly one after another, which made me feel like I was sent back in time. It was a blast from the past. I feel thankful that they were in my life. Now we are all walking different paths, but I hope someday our paths will cross again. I wish them luck in their endeavors!