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Coming-of-Age Day
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日本的成人节
在日本，成人节是一个很重要的节日。它标志着少男少女们进入了一个新的年龄段。
THE Coming-of-Age festival is celebrated on the second Monday of January (it used to be celebrated always on January 15 until the year 1999). It is a Japanese national holiday which honours young people who have reached, or who will reach, the age of 20 during the current year.
一月的第二个星期一就是日本的成人节（在1999年以前，通常都设在一月十五日）。成人节是日本人为了庆祝孩子在这一年年满20岁而设的全国性假日。
Twenty is the age of maturity in Japan, and people who have reached this age are subject to adult laws and gain the right to vote in elections as well as to drink.
在日本，20岁被认为是长大成人的年纪，年满20岁的人从此要遵循成人法，他们拥有选举和饮酒的权力。
Coming-of-age ceremonies have been held since time immemorial in Japan. In the past boys marked their transition to adulthood when they were around 15, and girls celebrated their Coming-of-Age when they turned 13 or so. During the Edo period (1603-1868), boys had their forelocks cropped off, and girls had their teeth dyed black. It wasn't until 1876 that 20 became the legal age of adulthood.
没有人知道古老的成人节仪式源于何时，过去的习俗是男孩子到了15，女孩子到了13岁左右就行成人礼。江户时代（1603-1868）的风俗是男孩剪去额发，女孩染黑牙齿。直到1876年，20岁才成为法定的成人年龄。
Local governments usually have a ceremony known as a seijin shiki (adult ceremony) to honour the “new adults". The ceremony is generally held in the morning and all of the young adults maintaining residency in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the new adults.
当地政府通常为刚刚成年的人举行成人礼（日语为seijin shiki ），通常安排在上午，本地所有的青年都应邀前来。先是政府官员发表演说，然后是向新成年的青年赠送礼物。
Women celebrate the day by donning furisode kimono, which are kimono in which the portions which hang from the sleeves are long as compared to the kimono with shorter sleeve portions worn by mature, married women. Some women will add hakama (baggy pantaloons) to the ensemble. Most young woman cannot put on a kimono themselves, and go to a kimono kitsuke who dresses them. They also go to a hairstylist to have their hair set the day before or early in the morning. Many women rent their kimonos because of the cost of buying one. A Japanese kimono can cost as much as a new car, so this is quite understandable.
女孩这一天会穿和服，样子和成年已婚女子的和服略有不同，袖口要长一些。有些女孩还会配上一条灯笼裤。大多数女孩子不会自己穿和服，需要专人帮忙。成人礼的前一天或者当天早晨，她们还要找理发师盘头发。因为和服价格昂贵，几乎相当于一台新车，所以很多女孩子选择租用，而不是购买一件和服。
The majority of young men don business suits, although once in a while men wearing dark-coloured kimonos can be seen. Needless to say, the expense is far less for the young men than the women.
绝大多数男孩穿正规的西服，虽然偶尔也会见到穿深色和服的男青年。显而易见，男孩子过成人节与女孩相比可以省去一大笔费用。
However, many of the young women are accompanied by their already-of-age boyfriends. The women wear million yen kimono, 50,000 yen shoes and bag, and have spend three hours at the beauty shop having their hair done, makeup put on and the kimono arranged (ordinary people can't put on kimono), this costs another 50,000 yen... then there is the obligatory formal portrait (yet another 50,000 yen), the taxis, the feather boa and so on. Total cost is getting about US$10,000. The boyfriend is usually dressed in dirty jeans and run over shoes.
然而，很多女孩是由已成年的男朋友陪着行成人礼的。她们穿着价值100万日元的和服，搭配的鞋和包花掉5万日元，再花5万用于做头发，化妆，请人整理和服（因为一般人不会做）……然后还有必不可少的画像（又是5万），出租车费，羽毛披肩，数不胜数。女孩子这一天大约要花掉1万美元，陪同的男友却穿着脏兮兮的牛仔裤和旧鞋子。
After the ceremony, the young adults often gather in groups and go to parties or go out drinking. Young women not used to wearing the slippers known as zori can often be seen limping as the afternoon wears on and evening approaches. Later in the evening, it is not unusual to see wobbly young adults staggering in the trains, heading happily home after a day of celebration.
成人节仪式结束后年轻人通常聚会狂欢或外出饮酒作乐，到了下午接近黄昏的时候，可以看见不习惯穿拖鞋的女孩子跛着脚走路。再晚些时候，常常可以见到庆祝了一天，喝醉了的年轻人兴高采烈，摇摇晃晃地搭火车回家。
A diary from a 20-year-old girl
20岁女孩的日记
“At the ceremony, I met all of my friends from junior high school, and we took hundreds of pictures of each other to remember the day. In addition, many of my friends in formal suits and traditional kimonos made a photograph of themselves at photo studios, so that they could show the copies at their o-miai (meeting for an arranged marriage) in the near future. Although the young generation tends to prefer the love marriage recently, they are still eager to make the photos on that day. Otherwise, they just make one for the memory of the day. In my case, because I did not feel like getting married by arrangement, I did not make one. Making a good photo also costs a lot, probably around US$100 for one or two copies.
所有初中的老朋友都在成人节仪式上又见面了，我们拍了上百张相片纪念这一天。很多朋友还特意去照相馆留影，有人穿正规的套装，有人穿传统的和服。这样的相片很快会在相亲（o-miai）的时候派上用场。尽管年轻一代现在崇尚恋爱结婚，成人节拍照留念依然很流行，或者就是为了纪念这个日子。因为我根本不喜欢父母做主的婚姻，所以没有去照相馆拍照。拍一张象样的相片也价格不菲，一两张就要花费100美元左右。
“After the ceremony, there was a large party with drinking, singing and dancing all night. It was quite uncertain whether all of us, the new-adults, had really realized the responsibilities and duties as citizens in the society, as we were granted on that seijin-no-hi."
“成人节仪式之后是整夜的聚会——喝酒，唱歌，跳舞。只是还不能肯定是否我们大家都意识到了作为社会中成熟的公民所应负的责任，而这正是在成人节这天赋予我们的责任。”
“成人节仪式之后是整夜的聚会——喝酒，唱歌，跳舞。只是还不能肯定是否我们大家都意识到了作为社会中成熟的公民所应负的责任，而这正是在成人节这天赋予我们的责任。”
“成人节仪式之后是整夜的聚会——喝酒，唱歌，跳舞。只是还不能肯定是否我们大家都意识到了作为社会中成熟的公民所应负的责任，而这正是在成人节这天赋予我们的责任。”
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