"Xmas" in Japan

Christmas in Japan. Maybe you have heard that they celebrate Christmas out here. Well do they EVER! The Japanese LOVE Christmas, but they have sort of re-invented the holiday a bit to better serve their own cultural purposes. And here is a brif description of my observations of the Christmas season thus far in Japan.

In Japan as you might imagine, the religious aspect of Christmas has been completely removed. People often refer to Christmas as "Xmas" not in the sense of an abbreviation, as we might do in the west, but in spoken English, as in "Merry Xmas!" You will see no images or Jesus and no manger sense. But it is still an incredibly popular holiday. And my guess is that Christmas in Japan seems to be gaining popularity each year.

Santa Clause is obviously the major symbol of Christmas here. But dont call him Santa Clause, cause hes "Santa san". The Japanese have brought over all the other symbols and characters associated with Christmas as well, elves, reindeer, snow, stars, bells, the Christmas tree, presents all of it. In my schools I often get to sit in on other teachers lessons, like calligraphy or reading or social studies, what have you. Last week I attended a 1st graders music lesson. They sang the Japanese version of "Rudolph the red noise reindeer" and another song about Santa-San which was complete with a very funny dance.

Christmas however, in past has been a holiday associated with couples, not children. Its a holiday where lovers get together and go on dates, or visit love motels, or go on mini break vacations together. Its not even really a family oriented celebration. But now it is clearly expanding to include children, families and young singles more and more.

Can you guess what the most popular thing to eat on Xmas eve is??? Its Kentucky Fried Chicken.!! Yes. the fast food chain, and its as horrible here as it is at home. But its so popular that the fast food chain puts together a special Xmas take away menu, and people are advised to pre-order their dinners far in advance, perhaps a month before Xmas!! I think the reason this is a popular choice for Japanese people is that they are aware of the western Christmas tradition of roasting a turkey, or a ham, or whatever you eat over the holiday. They have seen it many times in holiday films and TV. But Turkey is hard to come by here and even harder to come by is an oven. Most apartments and even homes don't have them. So people would have no means of cooking a bird even if they got there hands on one. Hence the "Kentucky" trend.

Another strange Japanese Xmas trend is the Christmas cake. In all the grocery stores huge displays are erected with ingredients and decorations for making the perfect Christmas cake. My guess is that the girl makes a cake (Japan is still very much a chauvinistic society) and then the couple enjoy eating it on their Christmas date.

Right now and for the past few weeks, tons and tons of twinkly lights have been put up everywhere. And a Christmas tree can be found in all the major shopping districts around Tokyo. Even in Toride around our station there is a nice little "illumination" as they like to call it out here, of blue lights draped in the trees lining the street leading you away from the station. (It looks very festive and cute.) The favorite color for Xmas lights is blue here for some reason.