Young women in colorful traditional costumes, masks and white stoles yesterday braved cold weather in lines and sat seats apart from one another in Yokohama to mark Japan’s Coming of Age Day, even though the city is under a state of emergency.
The ceremonies, typically full of kimono-clad women and smartly dressed men, were canceled in many cities and parties were discouraged to stem a rise in COVID-19 infections.
On the second Monday in January, people who have turned or are about to turn 20 take part in ceremonies in local event halls or other large-scale venues to celebrate the rite of passage to adulthood.
Photo: AP
The occasion, which is observed with a national holiday, serves in effect as class reunions for some and represents one of the major child-rearing milestones for parents.
“I came, as I’ve got my kimono ready and am taking steps to prevent infection. I’m not that worried,” Mei Ohno, a college student, said at Yokohama Arena.
“I’ve just met my old friends after a long time. I’m having a good time. After the ceremony, I’ll take photos with my friends at the station, and then go straight home,” she said.
Of Tokyo’s 23 wards, all but one have canceled or postponed the ceremonies, opting instead to offer mayors’ congratulatory remarks online. The government last week declared a state of emergency for the capital and three surrounding prefectures.
Yokohama, south of Tokyo, went ahead with celebrations at Pacifico Yokohama North convention hall and Yokohama Arena event hall.
“I decided to carry out today’s ceremonies, as I strongly hoped everyone takes part in celebrating this once-in-a-lifetime milestone,” Mayor Fumiko Hayashi said in a message read to attendees who had to abide with anti-infection measures.
Participants wore masks, had their temperature checks and were asked just to listen to the national anthem, instead of singing it out loud.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion