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Short short with English summary　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

成人式
日本中で成人式が行われた。今年２０歳になる若者達を大人達が迎い入れる通過儀礼ということらしい。私の頃には今のように華やかではなかった。私の記憶には全くないのから、多分ここ５～６０年位のことなのだろう。
そのせいか、私にはどうも違和感がある。２０歳というのが半端なのだ。肉体的にはもう一人前になって５年も経っている。しかし学業的にも経済力、収入の面でも、半端である。大人達が段取りお膳立てして、若者達はただ嬉しく賑やかに集まる。これでは、彼等に一人前の識見、人格、行動を期待できないのは当然である。
社会は肉体の完成を人間の完成と認めるべきである。そして、社会は若者たちに、行為、言動の責任、人格、識見の成長を求める。個人差があることを敢えて無視すれば、例えば、肉体的に成人となる１５歳を期に彼らは自由な個人となる。成人式は１５歳で、ということだ。もし、ある日突然全責任をというのに無理、不安があるならば、数年間の移行期間を設ければ良い。罰則罰金刑期減免をする。１５歳には３０％、１６歳には２０％、１７歳には１０％の逓減減免というのはどうですか。

"Maturity Celebration"
In Japan, we have a yearly celebration “Maturity Celebration”. The day is not a national holiday but all of Japanese local governments conduct and prepare this ceremony, i.e. nearly a national holiday to celebrate young people, who are 20 years old, an initiation ceremony. The Japanese society established this rite about 60 years ago. Since I have no memory of this holiday.
Perhaps that is why I do not feel quite agreeable to this celebration. Young people of the age of 20 are physically perfect adult. Most of them have been adult for 5 years. However, they are half done in their education process, and their economy, income. The community prepare the celebration and their parents pay the costumes. The young people are just glad to meet together. The consequence is that the society cannot expect the young people with respectful character and decent attitude.
The society should consider and respect the young ones as complete individual persons when they are physically men and women. Then the society can require the young people to be reliable. Ignoring there are personal variations, the young ones are free, responsible member of our society when they reached the age of 15.
“Maturity Celebration” should be held when they are 15. If we are anxious and feel difficult to let 15 years’ new members to have full power and to be fully responsible, we can have an overlapping period. How about to have a law to gradually decrease penalty on the cases of young people, penal/fine/imprisonment regulations, 30, 20, 10 % on the age groups of 15, 16, 17 years’ old.
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