On Jan. 12, people who will turn 20 this year attended ceremonies marking Coming-of-Age Day at auditoriums run by local governments. Some wore outrageous getups as final statements of youthful folly before "entering society" and some exercised their entitlement by getting drunk and acting out, but most bore their new status somberly and sat quietly through the boring, edifying speeches. Apparently, many even paid attention to the bureaucrats on hand whose purpose was to explain their coming responsibilities.

When you turn 20 in Japan you must start making monthly payments to the kokumin nenkin kikin seido, regardless of whether you are in school or working. In the unlikely event that you are already a full-time regular employee, you may be enrolled in the kōsei nenkin system, which means your contributions are pegged to your salary. Otherwise, you pay the set amount for a basic pension.

Many young people don't get with the program right away, so officials of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have their work cut out for them. Last spring, they set aside ¥16 million for a promotional campaign that explains to new adults their mandatory participation in the pension system. After taking bids, the ministry selected an advertising company that proposed a series of comic strips explicating the system in a way younger citizens would appreciate. The series went online last May, and until the beginning of January registered about 1,000 hits a day. But according to the Asahi Shimbun, on Jan. 14 some 89,000 people accessed the site, probably after having learned about pensions at Coming-of-Age ceremonies. Many reacted negatively.