Coming of Age Day
A coworker asked me why the Japanese stock market was closed on Monday. It was Coming of Age Day:
Japan has been marking Coming of Age day, celebrating the transition into adulthood of those who turned 20 last year. But in another sign of the country’s demographic difficulties, the number of youths being honoured is the smallest in nearly two decades…The celebrations take place at city halls, temples and other public venues like Tokyo Disneyland. Many of those taking part wear formal outfits, such as traditional kimonos, to mark the occasion.
We saw some 20 years old dressed up, but I didn’t have an opportunity to take pictures :-(. The article I linked to has some good pictures though.
The Japanese go to school year round, and work extremely hard, but they have a lot more holidays than the US to make up for it.
As the article mentions, Japan is struggling with a significant population decline. This is also the case with many European countries, which are trying to address the ensuing economic problems by opening up to immigration, which in turn has spawned a good deal of cultural and societal friction for them. The Japanese don’t allow much immigration - instead, I think, they plan to eventually replace their workers with robots.
