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

Record ID: 864009

  • Title: JAPAN: YOUNG JAPANESE TAKE COLD DIP IN TRADITIONAL COMING-OF-AGE CELEBRATION.
  • Date: 16th January 2005
  • Summary: BATHERS RUN TOWARDS SHRINE DRESSED ONLY IN SHORTS BATHERS OFFERING PRAYERS AT SHRINE MORE BATHERS OFFERING PRAYERS AT SHRINE BATHER SHIVERING FEMALE BATHERS SHIVERING IN THIN KIMONO SHINTO PRIEST BLESSING BATHERS LARGE BLOCK OF ICE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PRIEST YOSHIHIKO SHIMIZU SAYING: "This is a cultural event that has traditionally been maintained by the Japanese. By bathing in the water, you purify your body and spirit. That is the root of "misogi." VARIOUS OF BATHERS GETTING INTO ICY POOL AND SPLASHING WATER OVER THEMSELVES CAMERA GIRL GETTING INTO ICY POOL AND SPLASHING WATER OVER HERSELF ONLOOKING WOMEN VARIOUS OF BATHERS GETTING INTO ICY POOL AND SPLASHING WATER OVER THEMSELVES (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PARTICIPANT JUN OGURA SAYING: "It was really cold, but when you get used to it, you find you can carry on." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) PARTICIPANT SHOKO HASHIMOTO SAYING: "I turn 20 this year and celebrate my coming-of-age, so I took part thinking it would give me a fresh start so I can do my best in all sorts of ways." KANDA MYOJIN SHRINE
  • Embargoed: 31st January 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEJ6L321S2D28P1L0AZ3SBEFZA
  • 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.
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