The Thirteenth Visit is a kind of coming of age ceremony celebrated at Buddhist temples by thirteen year olds In Kansai mostly.

Coming of Age Celebration for 13 Year Olds

13 Year Olds Visit Religious Sites And Pray For Wisdom

ShichiGoSan is famous for little girls dressing up and taking pictures. But there is an event for both boys and girls on April 13th: The Jusan Mairi Ceremony. Though mostly celebrated in the Kansai area, boys and girls who are thirteen years old visit temples on this day and pray to Buddha for wisdom, and help passing their junior high school exams. Junior high school uniforms are as commonly worn on this day as kimonos. The event coincides with coming of age ceremonies in years gone by when thirteen year old children were considered nearly adult enough to receive their first set of adult clothes.

Where Can I Enjoy This?

In the Kansai region three famous temples for celebrating the Jusan Mairi Ceremony are Horin-ji Temple in Arashiyama, Kyoto, Taihei- ji Temple in Osaka Yuhigaoka, and Koninji Temple in Nara.

In the South Tohoku region, Fukushima Aizu’s Fukuman Kakuzozo Enzoji, Miyagi’s Oshu Yanagizu Kakuzozo Hohoin and Ibaraki Muramatsu’s Kakuzozo are famous.

Recently, the Jusan Mairi Ceremony has spread to the Kanto area, and Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo is also famous for this.

References

In English

https://www.kokuzohourinji.com/index.en.html

https://tockify.com/whatsupinkyoto/detail/1205/1618239600000

https://www.japanesewiki.com Jusan-mairi Thirteen Year Old Children Pray for Knowledge, Happiness and Health to Become Adults

In Japanese

https://saijigoyomi.com/13mairi/

https://ja.kyoto.travel/tourism/single02.php?category_id=1&tourism_id=1398

Photo thanks to LensOnJapan @ Flickr.com.