JAPAN: YOUNG JAPANESE TAKE COLD DIP IN TRADITIONAL COMING-OF-AGE CELEBRATION.

Record ID: 863445

  • Title: JAPAN: YOUNG JAPANESE TAKE COLD DIP IN TRADITIONAL COMING-OF-AGE CELEBRATION.
  • Date: 16th January 2005
  • Summary: (L!1) TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 16, 2005) (REUTERS) MEN PLAYING JAPANESE DRUMS MEN PLAYING JAPANESE DRUMS
  • Embargoed: 31st January 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVACVTEVWALEV012EXUPKLQFY930
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Youngsters in Japan take a cold dip in severe weather during traditional of coming of age celebration.
    A group of young Japanese have celebrated coming-of-age by plunging themselves into ice-cold waters in Tokyo on Sunday (January 16).
    Turning 20 years in Japan is considered coming-of-age and being able to drink legally and vote.
    But for some people in Tokyo, becoming an adult means taking a bath of ice water.
    Bathing in cold water, or standing under waterfalls is a traditional Shinto purification rite.
    At the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo, the soul-cleansing Shinto rite was combined with a coming-of-age ceremony for an experience participants would not forget.
    After prayers at the shrine, the participants jogged around the shrine grounds before stepping into a pool of ice water and splashing ice water over themselves.
    The event has been held every year since 1988 at this time, one week after the coming-of-age day, set on the second Sunday of January (January 10), and there are some participants who turn up in their bathing suits every year saying it brings them luck.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: This clip's Audio includes copyrighted material. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing the audio contained in this clip.
Register