Coming of Age Ceremony in Japan 2

But big money sometimes leads to big fraud. This year, a rental kimono company took people's money but never delivered the kimonos. Parents had already paid, for exemple, more than 200,000 yen each. When they arrived at the coming-of-age ceremony, no kimonos were to be found and the director of the rental company had fled. 

Local kimono shops and some volunteers reacted quickly. They dressed up the disappointed, deeply shocked girls with borrowed kimonos and made up their hair. The city promised to reorganize another ceremony for them.

Perhaps a larger and more important question: When will our cities also assist the 20-year olds who just can't afford such expensive kimonos?

Japan has experienced widening income disparity for a few decades. According to a survey released in 2014 by Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the proportion of children living below the poverty line in the country increased to 16.3 percent in 2012, making it the the worst year on record.