一年之初－日本成人禮 Coming of Age day in Japan @ 找Hi家教學17種外語Say Hi to the World！

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The second Monday of January is Coming-of-Age Day, a national holiday to encourage those who have newly entered adulthood to become self-reliant members of society. The holiday used to be on January 15, but in 2000 it was moved to the second Monday of the month.

一月的第二個禮拜一是日本成人禮的日子，這是一個全國性的節日，為了慶祝青年們正式進入成年，並且即將成為一位獨立成人的日子；這個節日原本訂在1月15日，但從2000年開始，改為在一月的第二個禮拜一舉行。

Municipal governments host special coming-of-age ceremonies for 20-year-olds, since an "adult" in Japan is legally defined as one who is 20 or over. They gain the right to vote on their twentieth birthday, and they're also allowed to smoke and drink. But along with these rights come new responsibilities as well, and so age 20 is a big turning point for the Japanese.

在日本，年滿20歲即為成年人，所以日本當地政府會為這些剛年滿20歲的人舉辦特別的成人禮儀式，象徵著他們會在20歲生日時，獲得投票權以及符合菸酒年齡，而隨著獲得這些成人專有的權利，隨之而來的是需要更多的責任感，所以20歲對於日本人來說，可以說是人生相當重要的轉捩點。

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.

成年禮儀式在日本是歷史相當悠久的傳統，在過去男孩子們15歲算成年，而女孩則會在13歲慶祝她們的成人禮，在江戶時代(1603年-1868年)，男孩們會把額前的瀏海剪短，而女孩則會把她們的牙齒染黑，直到1876年才重新定義20歲為成年年齡。

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These days, males generally wear suits to their coming-of-age ceremony, but a lot of females choose to wear traditional furisode--a special type of kimono for unmarried women with extra-long sleeves and elaborate designs. For unmarried women, furisode is about the most formal thing they can wear, and so many of them wear it to the event marking the start of their adult life.

在成人禮這天，男性大多會穿西裝來迎接成年，但許多女性會選擇穿著傳統的服飾－振袖(類似和服，專為未婚女性設計，有著非常長的袖子和精緻的花樣)，對於日本未婚女性來說，振袖是最正式的服裝，所以有很多女性就會穿著振袖來迎接她們的成年禮。

文章出處：http://www.enread.com/entertainment/festival/46856.html