成人式 Seijin Shiki

On the second Monday of January the Japanese celebrate Seijin Shiki, Coming of Age Day. This is a day to celebrate everyone who has become an adult (reached the age of 20) since April 2nd of last year or will become an adult by April 1st of this year. It is a time to recognize the new adults who are now a part of Japanese society as a whole. Gifts are given to them at City Hall and both the young men and women dress up in beautiful clothing. My host-sister Kotone is participating in this ceremony this year, and while I was not invited to attend the actual ceremony I did get to see Kotone in her Furisode (a style of Kimono) and her Zouri (sandals). Her hair was done beautifully and she had on some very elaborate nails. So here is what you probably want to see, the pictures:

 While the detail in the nails doesn't come across you can get an idea

Kotone thought we should have a picture together, it's morning and I'm still in my PJs I have NEVER felt more under dressed in all my life, but I included it so you could see the sandals.
As for the New Year's update, I am holding off until I'm certain New Year's is over.

The View

With the next couple days free I thought it would be good to get some updates in before I have to worry about writing papers and finals. Before I get to the main topic there are two small things I want to share:

This lemon must have fallen from a tree, but as Daniel (my former roommate) and I were walking down the hill we heard this noise behind us. At first I just thought it was a large leaf blowing along the ground until this lemon flew by us (oddly shaped too, flat top and bottom, but thick center, like a wheel). We watched with amusement as it rolled down the hill toward an embankment, but rather than hit it the lemon turned and kept going. Suddenly we wondered how long this was going to keep rolling, so we started running down the hill after it. Amazingly it kept winding it's way down along the steep road. As it passed by some cars a cat flew out and tried to catch it, but it was too fast for the cat. Like dorks we continued to follow it down the hill amazed that nothing was stopping it. Finally, as it reached a flatter area it hit a grate (in the above photo) lost some momentum as well as it's stability and it spiraled to a stop on the road. I had to get a photo of the brave traveler. I've never seen a lemon travel over a quarter mile on it's own before.
This sign is why I'm going to start a service to correct Japanese signs when they use English before they are put up:

This is in my neighborhood, they actually make very good cakes, I just don't like the idea that they have been tasted so much. And finally, this is not a Pentagram, this is the symbol for Nagasaki, it is 5 Vs in a star formation because Nagasaki was the main harbor of 5 open to foreign trade during Japan's period of isolation:

So, back in December, the same day my hard drive started failing we were treated with a late night trip to Mount Inasa which over looks ALL of Nagasaki. The view is incredible and these pictures and the subsequent video do not do it justice. But it's all I can share with you, so enjoy! These first photos were taken from ground level.

 All the photos from here forward were taken from the tower, below you can see where I was when I took the other photos.

 If you know where to look above you can see my the area where my house is.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and the short video. Next time I will talk breifly about Christmas and New Year's (which is hard because New Year's stuff is still going on right now).