To international students at Ritsumeikan University, not only university life is new, student life in Japan is brand new too. They both could bring tons of new experience. For this blog entry, we invited Sulvienna Esther Susanto (Indonesia) of Global Studies (GS) major to share with us an episode of her experience in Japan.
Post by International Admissions Office in collaboration with an International Student Ambassador.
Photo provided by Sulvienna Esther Susanto.
If your birthday is somewhere around January until April, then consider yourselves lucky! During every second Monday of January in Japan, there is an annual celebration called the Seijin Shiki or better known as Coming of Age Day, in which the whole country stops all of their activities to congratulate individuals who just turned or will be turning 20 years old. All individuals who reached the age of 20, between 2nd of April of the previous year and 1st of April during the current year, are eligible to join the event. However, wouldn’t it be just perfect to celebrate it right at the year itself? I, myself, is considered lucky because my birthday is on the 1st of March, and therefore I was able to celebrate the event without waiting for another year to pass.
Photo provided by Sulvienna Esther Susanto.
The biggest perk of Seijin Shiki, I would say, is getting a chance to fully dress up in a formal Japanese attire called the Furisode for females, and Hakama for males. Furisode is a type of brightly colored kimono typically worn by young females and or those who have not yet married, that features sleeves reaching down to the ankles of your feet. Even for normal Japanese, there is rarely any chance for them to wear Furisode on usual occasions, therefore it is truly like a spectacular scene out of New York Fashion Week. I sincerely recommend anyone studying in Japan, to experience this once in a lifetime event!
Photos provided by Sulvienna Esther Susanto.
The blog above is an experience, opinion and thought provided by an individual student.