A Coming-of-Age ceremony (成人式; Seijin shiki) is normally held in the morning at local city offices where politicians and academicians will give speeches reminding the new adults of their social responsibilities.

The young adults would often visit a shrine after the ceremony to make their wishes before started partying (with plenty of drinks I guess).

Ladies coming-of-age are often seen wearing furisode (a style of kimono) on the day, which makes it a special day for otaku photographers as well…

Photographers’ paradise (Image courtesy of MyMapOfJapan)

(Image courtesy of Arditpg and Papageno2236)

Peace peace… (Image courtesy of Akumach)

Young adults in Kobe (Image courtesy of Japannavigator)

Japanese Imperial Family – (sitting from left) Crown Princess Masako, Princess Aiko, Crown Prince Naruhito, Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, Prince Akishino, Prince Hisahito, Princess Akishino;
(standing from left) Princess Kako and Princess Mako

The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world still in existence. [More info on Wikipedia]

TSE female workers in kimono (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

The traditional Japanese costume didn’t bring much luck though, as the Nikkei 225 index was down 616.37 points on closing… their lowest in one and a half years.

Geisha (芸者) are traditional female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.

A screenshot of Sayuki’s website [Hat tip to 3yen and Tokyomango]

Excerpt from Sayuki’s website…

Sayuki is specialized in social anthropology, a subject which requires anthropologists to actually experience the subject they are studying by participating in the society themselves.

Sayuki has been doing anthropological fieldwork in Asakusa – one of the oldest of Tokyo’s six remaining geisha districts – for the past year, living in a geisha house (okiya), and participating in banquets as a trainee. She has been training in several arts, and will specialize in yokobue (Japanese flute).

Sayuki took an MBA at Oxford before turning to social anthropology, and specializing in Japanese culture. Sayuki has lectured at a number of universities around the world, and has published several books on Japanese culture. She is also an anthropological film director with credits on several international broadcasters.

A reader has pointed out that Sayuki is not the first white Geisha, that it should be Liza Dalby (in 1970s) instead. Thing is, Liza didn’t go through formal apprenticeship to become a Geisha, but she is generally being accepted as the first non-Japanese Geisha by the press.

Sayuki’s qualification as a Geisha is probably less questionable, but her apprenticeship is debatable as well, as she has chosen to follow the Tokyo’s ritual with training period of around six months to a year – a lot shorter than the five years a Kyoto apprentice needs to go through before she debuts as a full geisha.

The shorter apprenticeship doesn’t mean that she is not a real Geisha though, she is. I guess it would depend on how we interpret the definition of Geisha… both Liza and Sayuki could be the first white Geisha depends on how we see it. One thing that I believe though, is that both ladies must have worked hard to achieve their recognition… kudos for that.

The basic of the game involved 4 players on each side, with 3 people (horse) carrying a rider on top. The teams would charge at each other, with the riders attempting to remove the hat (or headband) of the opposition rider and thus defeating the team.

Sometimes they would use 4 carriers instead of 3, especially for younger kids that probably need an extra person to carry the weight.

In the old days the winning criteria was to knock (or wrestle) the opposition rider to the ground. I am not sure when they changed the rules, but it’s obvious that the Japanese would want to avoid severe injuries from the game. Even with the current format, injuries and falls are sometimes inevitable.

Kibasen is often played in a large group of units (3 horses + 1 riders) on each side, as if on a battlefield. Below are some videos to give you better ideas…