Kimono Sighting

Each year, it’s getting harder and harder to see people wearing kimono in public. They’ve always been hard to put on, and over the years, even a simple kimono has become fairly expensive. Nowadays, there are few people you are willing to go to the trouble and expense to wear them. For most people, the kimono has become something that one might wear once or twice in one’s life, on formal occasions, kind of like a tuxedo or a ball gown would be in western countries. One such occasion for wearing a kimono, has always been Coming of Age Day.

The first Monday after New Year's Day is the national holiday, Coming of Age Day, on which 20-year olds are invited to attend a ceremony at the city hall in their hometowns, to welcome them into adult society. Those attending the ceremonies usually dress up in formal wear, which until recently meant wearing a kimono. For many average Japanese people, Coming of Age Day is one of only a handful of chances they get to wear kimono. However, due to Japan's low birthrate, the population is shrinking, so there are fewer 20-year-olds each year to participate in the ceremonies, and few of them are interested in going to listen to some speeches by some old politicians who are out of touch with today's youth culture, and receive a small gift that they don't really need or want. Also, among those who do choose to attend such ceremonies, the wearing of western-style is becoming more and more popular each year. Sadly, I saw only a handful of young women wearing kimono today, and I didn’t even one young man in kimono.