Today's Coming-of-Age Ceremony: Dress up! Take selfies! Meet friends!

The Harajuku Kawaii Research Lab, which studies trends among modern girls, presents its second serialized theme: the seasonal survey "Coming-of-Age Ceremony." We surveyed 293 girls aged 13 to 20 to explore their motivation for the ceremony!

❤ "I'm super excited for Coming-of-Age Day!"

──"Coming-of-Age Day is a fun event you only get once in a lifetime!"(Vocational school 1st year, 19 years old)

The Coming-of-Age Ceremony, a once-in-a-lifetime grand occasion, remains an important milestone event in life, just as it always has been. But more than that, for girls, it's also an event they eagerly anticipate and look forward to immensely. According to Harajuku Kawaii Research, over 90% of girls aged 13 to 20 are looking forward to their Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

Not only from new adults with the ceremony just around the corner, but also from junior high and high school students:

──"I'm excited even now at 15!"(Junior High School 3rd Year, 15 years old)
──"An event I'm looking forward to right now"(High School 2, 17 years old)

Even beyond the new adults facing the ceremony soon, voices like these were heard from junior high and high school students

While simply saying "looking forward to it" may be the common thread, the nature of interest in Coming-of-Age Day, how it's experienced, and the characteristics of the new adults themselves change with the times.

What we're focusing on is where the motivation for girls to feel "I'm looking forward to it!" about the Coming-of-Age Ceremony comes from. Let's explore the feelings of 19-20 year old girls nationwide just before their Coming-of-Age Ceremony, and 13-18 year old girls as theirs gradually approaches.

❤Coming-of-Age Day is a "Festival" Vibe

The way modern girls look forward to Coming-of-Age Day is:

── "The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is like a fun festival where everyone can hang out together! It's important!" (High School Senior, 18)
── "It's a ceremony, but it's a fun festival!" (High school sophomore, 17)
── "It's like a festival just with friends" (High School 1st Year, 16 years old)

Rather than a solemn, serious anticipation of a quiet, dignified rite of passage into adulthood, it seems the excitement of eagerly counting down to a fun "festival" takes precedence.

❤"Dressing up! Taking photos! Seeing friends!" is everything

There are three things they look forward to at the Coming-of-Age Ceremony: "dressing up," "taking photos," and "meeting friends." While it's often said that "the Coming-of-Age Ceremony is like a class reunion," the results show that "taking photos" is actually the most anticipated part.

After all, creating memories and the non-daily "fashion" that feels almost like cosplay are girls' favorite things.

── "Coming-of-Age Day is a special day to get dressed up cutely, take photos, and hang out with friends" (2nd-year university student, 20)
── "Feelings about Coming-of-Age Day seem to vary by environment, but getting to wear a furisode kimono is something every girl looks forward to" (20)

For this generation, who've grown up with social media since their teens, it's also crucial that this is an opportunity to take photos that naturally get "likes!" without being seen as "showing off," "KY," or "embarrassing."

Photos showing them beautifully dressed on this once-in-a-lifetime occasion, or happily with friends, are sure to get "likes!" The glamorous furisode, coveted by every Japanese girl, also fulfills the requirement of "looking great in photos when posted on SNS."
The motivation to take photos not just "for the memory," but specifically "to show people on SNS" is uniquely modern. Before SNS existed, showing photos to an unspecified audience beyond family and relatives wasn't the primary goal, or if it was, it wasn't the main one. The motivation was always "what I get from being there." This feeling has changed somewhat between the past and present.

❤Coming-of-Age Day feels like Halloween

── "Coming-of-Age Day feels like Halloween" (20 years old)
── "If you say it's close to Halloween, I guess you're right" (20 years old)

It's still fresh in our minds that Halloween's economic impact, which has been growing in recent years, finally surpassed Valentine's Day this year! (Halloween: ¥110 billion, Valentine's Day: ¥108 billion Source: Japan Anniversary Association). Well, Coming-of-Age Day is actually an event packed with just as many elements that modern girls crave as Halloween is.

Of course, "we don't take it as lightly as Halloween," but

── "It's the modern way to enjoy it, investing time and money in preparations like you would for Halloween or Christmas" (University sophomore, 20 years old)

is the modern way.

❤Preparations start a year in advance. Pre-ceremony photoshoots get everyone hyped!

Preparations for the Coming-of-Age Ceremony start about a year in advance.

── "Everyone decides on their furisode kimono during their first year of university. That's when the direct mailers arrive." (University sophomore)

 

Recently, more girls are enjoying the lead-up to the ceremony by using photos from pre-ceremony shoots taken around summer.

── "Everyone posts their pre-ceremony photos on social media like Facebook and Instagram. Around summer, it was trendy to use back views or side profiles as profile pictures." (University sophomore, 20 years old)

92.While 0% of girls plan to attend the ceremony in their hometown, they find it fun and exciting to check each other's kimono choices beforehand via SNS—both with friends back home they don't see often and with friends outside their hometown.

Incidentally, when it comes to kimono colors, it's first come, first served on social media.

── "Since no one wants to wear the same kimono pattern or color, a phenomenon emerged where whoever posted first won." (University sophomore, 20 years old)

 

It's not about wearing what you want, but reading the room. This is a survival skill unique to today's new adults, who grew up honing their "reading the room" skills amid the rise of SNS and the emphasis on harmony in the "Yutori" education system, following the 2007 Buzzword of the Year award for "KY" (socially clueless) during their junior high school years.

❤Cost-consciousness leads to furisode rentals

Recently, coming-of-age ceremony outfits modeled after oiran courtesans have often become topics of discussion.

── "It's true that furisode catalogs feature flashy, nightlife-inspired kimonos" (University sophomore, 20 years old)

However, the vast majority of today's new adults—96%—plan to attend in orthodox furisode. Fundamentally, the majority sentiment among today's youth is that they don't want to stick out like a sore thumb.

Furthermore, renting the kimono is the most common choice (44%), significantly outnumbering those who purchase one (28%) or inherit it from relatives (24%).

With so many entertainment, product, and service options available today, young women tend to be reluctant to concentrate their budget on just one thing.

── "Some girls think, 'If you're going to spend money on the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, I'd rather use that money to go overseas.' Parents want them to wear it, but I think today's girls are more practical" (University sophomore, 20 years old)

It's a characteristic unique to today's girls, who aren't averse to shopping or spending but are known for their strong cost-performance awareness.

❤Red and pink furisode kimonos come standard with hair styling, makeup, nails, and eyelash extensions

The most popular colors for the furisode they want to wear are, unsurprisingly, the classic red and pink. As they approach the coming-of-age ceremony at ages 19-20, their preferred colors tend to diverge more, revealing a desire to avoid matching their friends.
Also, it's trendy now to get not just hair and makeup, but eyelash extensions and nails too.

── "Everyone does hair and makeup, but eyelash extensions and nails are also standard equipment that everyone gets done." (University sophomore, 20 years old)

Some even go to beauty salons. While the furisode kimono might be rented, the types of things they spend money on are more varied than in the past.

❤"Rioting Coming-of-Age Ceremonies" – We Want the Good Parts Covered Too

Regarding the rowdy Coming-of-Age Ceremonies reported around this time each year, while some express positive views like "I think it's okay to go wild at the Coming-of-Age Ceremony" or "The geisha-style outfits are cute," and others show indifference saying "I don't really care," the majority feel:

── "I hate being lumped in with them" (1st-year university student, 19)
── "I hate being associated with those rowdy Coming-of-Age Ceremony people" (2nd-year university student , 20)

feel strong resistance to being lumped together.

Some also questioned why only the rowdy minority gets reported.

── "I don't think all Coming-of-Age ceremonies are rowdy, so I wish they'd report on the good parts too" (Vocational school freshman, 19)

For the girls, precisely because it's a day they hold so dear, they seem to want the media to report on the good aspects too, not just focus on the bad.

❤Summarizing the Coming-of-Age Ceremony for Today's Girls

For modern girls, Coming-of-Age Day is something to enjoy from the preparation stage, investing time and money like Halloween or Christmas. They enjoy posting pre-ceremony photos on social media while being careful not to clash with friends' outfits. The types of expenses have increased compared to the past; hair, makeup, nails, and eyelash extensions are standard, while furisode kimonos are rented for cost efficiency. The day itself is the long-awaited festival: they dress up, take photos, meet friends, and feel satisfied.

Reflecting on the coming-of-age ceremony filled with girls' feelings, I found myself wanting to pull out my furisode kimono for the first shrine visit of the year or the next wedding.
May this year also bring a wonderful day.

Next time's theme: The "Image of Adulthood" for Today's Girls. We'll explore what kind of adults they aspire to be and the ideals they hold.

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❤What is Harajuku Kawaii Lab?
  Launched in December 2012 as a joint initiative between "Dentsu Inc. Gal Lab" and Mynavi's " JOL " service (which supports girls' dreams), this team specializes in researching the "now" of teenage girls in junior high, high school, and college. While based in Harajuku, their research extends beyond the neighborhood to study the real lives of girls nationwide.

　

Related Projects
❤Dentsu Inc . Gal Lab
A cross-functional planning team within Dentsu Inc., primarily composed of young female employees. It aims to revitalize not only businesses but also Japanese society as a whole by harnessing the mindset and powerful lifestyles of gals.
　

❤Mynavi JOL
With 60,000 teenage female members nationwide (primarily junior high and high school students) registered. " Dream Station JOL Harajuku " has become such a staple destination that it's considered a must-visit spot when in Harajuku.