U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
January 21, 2019
Japanese “Coming-of-Age”
ceremony honors students
turning 20 years old
By Bill Schackner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ITTSBURGH (AP) — Getting into
a kimono was not the issue for
University of Pittsburgh senior
Oliver Jia. He’s worn traditional dress
from Japan in the past.
Nor was the Japanese major from Mt.
Lebanon likely to be intimidated by any
differences in culture, having spent 15
months in Japan as an undergraduate
with plans to return for graduate school.
But the speech he was to deliver on Pitt’s
campus was another matter. The young
man conversationally fluent in Japanese
would see those skills tested by his first
formal address in the language. Many in
the University Club audience would know
instantly if his cadence was off or his usage
incorrect.
That’s because the event, “Seijin Shiki,”
is a Japanese “Coming-of-Age” ceremony,
honoring students turning 20, the start of
adulthood in Japan. Pitt hosted the
7:00pm ceremony for students visiting
from Japan and unable to celebrate back
home, and for Pitt students intent on
bolstering their Japanese studies by
experiencing one of the country’s rites of
passage.
“Five to seven minutes,” said Jia,
explaining his speaking assignment and
his planned message. “I’m going to talk
about becoming an adult, about bravery
and courage to do new things, of trying new
things and new ideas and new cultures.”
Just as that message resonated with
him, it struck home for some two dozen
students from Yasuda Women’s Univer-
sity in Hiroshima who have been at Pitt for
five months improving their English skills.
They accounted for most of the 34 partici-
pants and will soon be heading back to
Japan.
One of them, Mai Takamoto, 20, a
second-year Yasuda student, delivered a
speech in English, her second language.
She talked about coming to Pittsburgh,
struggling to meet people, and the
organizations she joined as a result.
“All of those activities were part of me
P
NOTABLE NIGHT. This image released by NBC shows Sandra Oh accepting the award for best actress in a
drama series for her role in “Killing Eve” during the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel
in Beverly Hills, California. Oh thanked her parents, movingly, in Korean. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)
Snubs, surprises, and a Satanic
shout-out? Key Globes moments
queen, told the crowd: “I would like to tell
you how much this film meant to me, but I
can’t think of it.” She also noted that one of
her “favourite” things about making the
film was that she “ate constantly through
the film.”
What was that, dude?
We’re not really sure what he was saying
in his rambling speech accepting the Cecil
B. DeMille Award — especially when he
started talking about ships, and saying,
“Tag, you’re it!” But hey, Jeff Bridges is
best known as a stoner icon in The Big
Lebowski, so it was sort of apt that he
wasn’t so easy to follow. It was simply fun
to experience his joy; it’s just too bad he
wasn’t wearing a bathrobe. Harrison Ford,
coming next, was even crustier than usual.
“Nobody told me I had to follow Jeff
Bridges,” he said.
Wow, she knows me?
It was a sweet red carpet moment as
Elisabeth Moss, star of “The Handmaid’s
Tale,” discovered that Taylor Swift was a
fan. Ryan Seacrest presented her with a
video from Swift, gushing about the show.
“I can’t believe she even knows who I am!!”
Moss exulted, showing that stars can
sometimes be exactly like us.
Continued from page 7
stunning way, and her own life. “I am
thinking of my mom who really sublimated
herself to my father her whole life,” Close
said. She added that women are expected
to be nurturers, “but we have to find
personal fulfillment. We have to follow our
dreams. We have to say, I can do that and I
should be allowed to do that.” The crowd
rose to cheer.
Gaga’s win
At least Lady Gaga didn’t go home
empty-handed: She won as a co-writer for
best song, “Shallow,” which she performs
with Cooper in A Star is Born. In her
speech, she too referred to the challenges
women face, not in the film industry but in
music. “As a woman in music it is really
hard to be taken seriously as a musician
and as a songwriter,” she said, adding that
her co-writers “lifted me up, they
supported me.” Gaga wrote the song with
Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and
Andrew Wyatt.
Colman’s “favourite” thing
Not every speech had a serious tone to it.
Olivia Colman, who won best actress in a
musical or comedy for The Favourite, in
which she plays a comically troubled
Japan’s whaling decision could
affect Alaska Native whalers
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Japan’s decision to leave the Inter-
national Whaling Commission could have consequences on subsistence
whaling by Alaska Natives.
Alaska’s Energy Desk reports Japan announced in December that it’s
leaving the commission to resume commercial whaling for the first time
in 30 years.
John Hopson Jr., chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling
Commission, says Japan has been a “strong ally” in helping Alaska
Native whalers obtain their hunting quota for the animals.
The international commission sets the quota for subsistence whaling.
The commission approved a rule change last year that made the renewal
of aboriginal subsistence whaling automatic.
Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission lawyer Jessica Lefevre says
Japan’s absence on the commission could shift the balance of power,
possibly leading to the automatic renewal rule being challenged.
q
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Oregon man who made racists
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#38616
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Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1
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Solution to
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Puzzle #18137 (Easy)
All solutions available at
<www.sudoku.com>.
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BEND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon teacher who lost his teaching license
after state education officials say he used racist nicknames and made
derogatory comments toward students has been allowed to teach again.
The Bulletin reports the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices
Commission issued a new license that allows former Bend-La Pine
Schools music instructor Jeffrey Simmons to be a substitute teacher.
Simmons lost his teaching license in 2013 following an investigation.
State education officials found that Simmons used racist nicknames for
students, including calling a student of Asian descent “chopsticks,”
“potsticker,” and “cheap Chinese labor.” He also made demeaning
comments about students’ weight and sexual orientation.
The newspaper could not reach Simmons for comment.
The commission is imposing four years of probation, requiring
Simmons to complete two graduate-level courses on diversity and
inclusion.
growing up, becoming more independent,”
said the young woman who hopes to be a
social worker for children, perhaps in the
United States.
She, like Jia, was roundly applauded for
her remarks and for stepping outside the
comfort of what they know. In part, that
was the point of the event, which drew
more than 200 people.
“We are here to build bridges between
cultures,” said Joseph Alter, director of the
Asian Studies Center, which co-hosted the
ceremony with the English Language
Institute.
Coming of Age Day in Japan is a
national holiday, traditionally the second
Monday of January. It celebrates passage
into adulthood and the responsibilities,
privileges, and vices that come with it.
Some activities, including the right to
vote, have dropped to age 18, event
organizers said. But for now, 20 remains
the threshold, the age at which they take
on the mantle of adulthood, and — yes —
are able to gamble and consume alcohol
legally in their country.
Though alcohol was not part of Pitt’s
ceremony,
gifts
were,
specifically
chopsticks bearing Pitt’s logo, said Lynn
Kawaratani, an assistant director with
Pitt’s Asian Studies Center. A cherry
blossom tree was planted in the students’
honor in North Park.
The event may have no precise
equivalent in American culture, but there
are similarities, said Rob Mucklo,
associate director of the English Language
Institute.
“It’s got the pomp and circumstance of a
prom, but the tradition and coming-of-age
elements of a debutante ball, or a Sweet 16
party, or a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah,”
he said.
During the afternoon, the students
arrived for appointments during which
volunteers,
including
members
of
Pittsburgh’s Japanese community, helped
them into their kimono, a process in which
they are wrapped in multiple silk layers
secured with a sash, or obi.
Those colorful garments were loaned to
the students.
Women did their hair. The participants,
once into Japanese garb, waited inside the
club to preserve their appearance until the
ceremony began.
In general, those participating turned
20 between last April and this April. Jia,
though he already is 21, got to experience
the event as a speaker.
There was a procession and a perfor-
mance by members of Pittsburgh Taiko,
whose barrel-shaped drums filled the room
with sound as the new adults filed into the
room in a procession.
County executive Rich Fitzgerald and
Feyisola Alabi, a representative of Pitts-
burgh mayor Bill Peduto, gave remarks, as
did Sally Wiggin, a retired TV broadcaster
who studied Japanese and Chinese at Pitt.
Shortly after watching Pitt sophomore
Emily Farmer, 20, of Easton, Pennsyl-
vania, put on a kimono for the first time,
retired Japanese instructor Sono Takano
Hayes beamed as she talked about the joy
of volunteering for the event.
“It makes me feel very, very happy.
Why? They are very much involved. They
are learning so much about Japan. I’m so
proud to see them.”
Mark your calendar!
The Year of the Pig
begins February 5, 2019.
The Asian Reporter’s Lunar New Year
special issue will be published on
Monday, February 4, 2019.