The coolest aspect of the holiday for Japanese fashion fans is that many young Japanese girls wear brightly colored furisode kimono to the daytime ceremony and shrine visits. That means that Coming of Age Day is one of the only days of the year that you are likely to see large number of young people in Tokyo wearing traditional kimono.
This year, Coming of Age Day fell on Monday January 10, 2011. We always enjoy this holiday, because it’s so rare to see Japanese people in traditional clothing around Harajuku and Shibuya, the youth-centered neighborhoods where we spend most of our time. Of course we see yukata around hanabi time of year, but full-on kimono are just not a normal wardrobe item for young Japanese. As usual, we were delighted to see plenty of Japanese girls in brightly colored furisode kimono walking around Takeshita Dori and other areas of Harajuku – either in groups of friends or with their families.
Camera in hand, we headed for Tokyo’s most famous shrine, Meiji Jingu, to see if any of the beautifully dressed girls celebrating Seijin no Hi would be willing to pose for a few photos. Luckily, we found plenty of friendly smiling 20-year-old kimono-clad volunteers. Please enjoy these pictures of Coming of Age Day 2011 in Harajuku and remember that you can click any of them to see high resolution versions!
