English Essay by Brian Southwick
32 Coming of Age Day
ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)　

　　　Hello again, everyone.  I hope you enjoyed the winter vacation and are ready for the last three months of the school year.  In two earlier essays I talked about Christmas and New Year’s.  My essay today is about another winter holiday, Coming of Age Day.
　　Coming of Age Day this year was Monday, January 8.  When I watched the news, I saw ceremonies from around Japan.  Many of the young women wore brightly colored kimonos.  A few of the young men wore kimonos, but most had on western style suits.  Everyone looked happy and excited.
　　The holiday is an important event in the life of young Japanese.  It celebrates the 20th birthday and the start of adulthood.  When Japanese turn 20, they enjoy new rights and have new responsibilities.  For example, Japanese can drink alcohol when they are 20 years old.  Another thing Japanese can do when they are 20 is to vote.  This is an important responsibility for adult members of society.
　　We don’t have a Coming of Age Day in the United States.  In America, we can vote when we are 18 years old.  On my 18th birthday, I applied for my voting card.  When it came in the mail, I felt like an adult.  The drinking age in the U.S. is 21, the highest in the world.
　　I think that the high school graduation ceremony is the start of adulthood for young Americans.  Many new graduates move out of their homes and go to college or get a job. They want to be independent and make their own decisions.  Three months after I finished high school, I left home and moved into a college dormitory.  It was the start of a very exciting time of life for me.

<注>　Coming of Age Day（成人の日），are ready for（〜に対する準備ができている），essay
（エッセイ，随筆），New Year’s（お正月），ceremony（儀式，式典），wore＜wear（着る），
brightly colored（色が鮮やかな），kimono（着物），most（ほとんど），had＜have on（着る），
western style（西欧式の，欧米式の），suit（スーツ），excited（興奮した），event（行事，イベント），
celebrate（祝う），adulthood（成人期），turn（「〜才に」なる），right（権利），responsibility（責任），
alcohol（アルコール飲料），vote（投票する），adult（成人の，大人の，大人），society（社会），
apply for〜（〜を申し込む，申請する），in the mail（郵便で），age（年齢），graduation（卒業），
graduate（卒業生），college（単科大学）, independent（独立した），make decision（決定する），
dormitory（寮，寄宿舎）



Question and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.


Q1. What does Coming of Age Day celebrate?


A1.


Q2. What are two things Japanese can do when they are 20 years old?


A2.


Q3. How did Brian feel when his voting card came in the mail?


A3.


Q4. In Brian’s opinion, when does adulthood start for young Americans?


A4.


Q5. Do many young Americans leave home after they graduate from high school?
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　〜を卒業する

A5.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

 





＜解答例＞

A1. It celebrates the 20th birthday and the start of adulthood.

A2. They are to drink alcohol and (to) vote.

A3. He felt like an adult.

A4. It starts at the high school graduation ceremony.

A5. Yes, they do.