Seijin No Hi, Coming of Age Day for Japanese Women 2008-01-16

I ran into this woman in Kamakura. She was walking up the narrow shopping street on her way to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. On Seijin No Hi, Coming of Age Day, Japanese women who turned 20 in the past year attend civic ceremonies. If their families have the money, they dress up in a beautiful kimono. Then they hit the town and, if they're traditional, stop by a Shinto shrine. It's a good day for photographers. On normal days, it's difficult to point a camera at anyone without getting a stone faced response. But you can stop anyone in a kimono on this day and simply ask to take a picture. (To tell the truth, asking works better than you might expect almost any time.)