Against my hopes, this is becoming a monthly blog it seems. In this issue, we'll talk about Christmas in Japan!
Japan is a predominantly Buddhist/Shinto society. However, Christianity does have a small foothold, especially in Amakusa, where the Christians hid during the persecutions way back when. It's no surprise, then, that Christmas has at least made it big in Japan as a commercial holiday, if not as a religious observance.
Here are some unique Christmas traditions in Japan:
1. Illuminations: Basically, places put lights up. Unlike in America, a majority of people DON'T go through the trouble of putting up lights. However, certain cities will put up illuminations in certain famous areas as tourist attractions. In Amakusa, it was called "Romantic Fantasy." Several famous places throughout the islands were beautifully lit up, though on a much smaller scale than America.
2. KFC Christmas: So, the Colonel has inserted himself in to Christmas here. The Japanese idea that Westerners eat chicken on Christmas has led to the idea that, well, it's fried chicken. Thus many Japanese people will have some kind of fried chicken on/around Christmas day, and KFC is a famous one.
3. Christmas decorations were available for purchase at stores, including Christmas trees and wrapping paper. Exchanging gifts for Christmas is not rare, but not as many gifts are given as in the U.S.
4. This year, New Year's Eve fell on Monday. It turned out to be a holiday, which was nice, but completely unrelated to Christmas. All jobs were open for business on Christmas Day, even the schools, despite there being no students because of winter break. Teachers still had to work though :(
5. Christmas is more of a couple's holiday than anything else in Japan. Usually couples will make date plans to go out on Christmas night, or something of the sort.
Overall, Christmas isn't really that different in Japan. It's actually quite unremarkable. I chalk it up to the fact that it's overshadowed by New Year's, one of the biggest holidays for the Japanese. This year it was a little rainy, which was kind of depressing, but I had a good Christmas Eve dinner with some friends.
