Submitted by Madison Ferriola on the 2020 winter session program in Japan sponsored by the Department of Psychology…
I am in Japan for the 2020 winter study abroad and taking PSYC344 The Psychology of Language with a focus on Japanese. Our program happens to come during a national holiday, the coming of age day ceremony. January 13th honors those who have reached maturity which is everyone who had turned 20 in the previous year. There were many women our age wearing traditional kimonos and having their photos taken. The coming of age day ceremony used to be called genpukku and dated back to the late Asuka period (538-710). The ceremony was based on the first full moon of the year. We are lucky that we are staying at a hotel that is a 2-minute walk from the Sensoji Temple which is Tokyo’s oldest temple and a very popular attraction. The Temple was built because of a legend about a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy and the temple was subsequently built for Kannon. The beautiful temple draws a lot of people on this holiday with traditional street food (try the strawberries, they are amazing!). I’m looking forward to learning more about the rich history of Japan.
