September 8, 2016 • mccsokinawa.com
Thomas Alan Smilie
I
n a world shelling out millions clinging to the last drops of youth, there is a place where age is not shunned but embraced and even celebrated. That place is Japan. In Japan there is a public holiday honoring all elderly citizens. Beginning in 1966, Respect for the Aged Day is celebrated on the third Monday of September—this year it falls on September 19. The Japanese government celebrates those that have reached the golden age of 100 with the gift of a silver sake (rice wine) cup. Okinawa celebrates its elderly along with the rest of Japan on Respect for the Aged Day; daycare children invite their grandparents to lunch. But, as the “festival people” would have it, Okinawa has multiple celebrations for their elderly. On Okinawa, when people reach the age 60, they have reached kanreki, which symbolizes the beginning of a happy old age. At 88, the special birthday party called tôkachi or “celebrating
inside
reaching a mature old age” is held in their honor. While kanreki and tôkachi are both considered a big deal, neither can hold a candle to the magnitude of the “ultimate” birthday party celebrated when Okinawans turn 97. This celebration, which is thrown for elders by offspring, relatives and members of the local community, is called kajimayâ. Kajimayâ, which literally translates into “pinwheel,” is celebrated en masse annually on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (9/7)—this year it falls on October 7. Kajimayâ are definitely a big deal for the community—usually municipal governments (and sometimes the prefectural government) sponsor parties for these long-lived people. Some birthday “boys” and “girls” are even given rides in convertible automobiles—oftentimes a Cadillac, Chevy or other large car—in small parades through their communities waving toy pinwheels in their hands. Neighborhood residents line the
Learn to Swim | 3 Cool Down with a Swim Meet | 3 Why Celebrate 97-Year-Olds with Pinwheels? | 5 Japanese Phrase of the Week | 5
"Neighborhood residents line the streets and follow the cars to share in the luck of the long-lived." streets and follow the cars to share in the luck of the long-lived. Large receptions are held, many rivaling lavish wedding receptions that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Check out Why is That? on page 5 to answer the question: Why celebrate 97-year-olds with pinwheels?
Pick of the Week: Square Watermelons | 7 Bonsai Coffee at Terra | 9 Off-Base Events | 11 Semper Fit Events | 11