'Tis the Season

Because Japan has a very minority Christian population, most people (myself included prior to coming to Japan) assume Christmas is not celebrated here. Living even a short time in Japan very quickly taught me otherwise, and this year, through full and mini-lessons I taught on Christmas in the U.S. at both the elementary and junior high schools, I learned quite a bit more about the novelties of the Japanese Christmas.

Of course for most Japanese, Christmas is not a religious holiday. I reckon you'd be hard-pressed to find a non-Christian Japanese citizen who knows the story of the birth of Jesus and how it is related to Christmas. On the other hand, you'd be equally hard-pressed to find a Japanese citizen who isn't familiar with Santa, the song "Jingle Bells," Christmas trees and the concept of giving presents. The Japanese have completely adopted with great enthusiasm the commercial aspects of Christmas. So depending on your outlook on Christmas in the States, the Christmas season in Japan is almost exactly the same as it is in the States.

Christmas lights (called "illumination" here) are very popular, especially for businesses, even in small towns like mine. Driving through town, you'll also come across at least house every minute or so that is decorated with Christmas lights, lawn and/or house ornaments. In the windows of even more homes, you see lighted mini-Christmas trees and other interior decorations. Large cities go all out in decorating large, public Christmas trees and coordinating large-scale Christmas light displays. Of course Tokyo Disneyland is absolutely lousy (in the slang sense) about Christmas and is commonly referenced by the Japanese to help their peers better understand certain (commercial) concepts of Christmas (love it!).

Christmas is very popular amongst the younger generations because of the present concept. Some ideas know no boundaries. :-)

Here are some of the differences however:

--There was a lot of uncertainty amongst my students as to the exact date of Christmas. There were guesses ranging from December 23-28. Not completely unlike Christmas in the States, families seem to celebrate on whatever day roughly around the end of December works best for them.

--Kentucky Fried Chicken does exist en mass in Japan and at some point in the past created a fabulous marketing campaign that has made it extremely popular for people to eat KFC chicken for Christmas. KFCs are often sold out between 12/24-26. A lot of students, as well as some teachers, were very surprised to learn that we don't eat KFC for Christmas in the States. Turkey is very rare in Japan, so I had fun in the schools introducing turkey as one of the main Christmas dishes in the States. They were flabbergasted at the size of our Christmas hams too, and the amount of food that is traditionally served for a U.S. Christmas dinner.

--Somehow "Christmas Cake" has sunk its claws into the Japanese Christmas subconscious as what one should eat for dessert for the holiday. It's a yellow, round, short-cake about the same size as your normal cake, covered with white frosting topped with strawberries. There's a chance the concept came from Europe, but it's completely possible it was an invention of some cake company in Japan (which seems to be a common national theory). Students and teachers were equally surprised to learn that we eat Christmas cookies and pie in the States and never eat Christmas cake (at least not in the Midwest....or Arizona....which is essentially the Midwest anyhow ;-) ).

--Christmas cards are not done in Japan. Instead, New Year postcards are sent out, not to arrive before January 1st. The postcards almost always contain images of the Chinese animal symbol for the new year.

In case any of you are wondering, I didn't bother celebrating Christmas in either Japanese or American fashion (except for eating the famous Fort Dodge Loretta's Cookies my dad sent me, the Munson family traditional Caramel Chex my brother sent, and opening the thoughtful presents and cards some of you sent - thank you very much!). Instead, me and two of my Japanese friends worked up a group of 12 to eat dinner at our favorite local Indian curry restaurant on Christmas Day. Naturally. :-)

Oh, and one of my JHS English teachers was adamant about putting up a Christmas tree in the school's main hallway, so Sharron, know that the tree and decorations you bequeathed to me were put to good use this year and enjoyed by many!

For all of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with good food, good company and good health. Merry Christmas! (Belated wishes, true, but sincere nonetheless.)