メリークリスマス MeRii KuRiSuMaSu
Christianity was banned in Japan until the 1850s. So Christmas is a fairly new holiday here. Even during World War 2, all American celebrations were prohibited. But come the 1960’s, with the invention of the TV, Christmas became a popular event, and a great success for Japanese commercialism.
As soon as Halloween finishes, the Christmas decorations are instantly put up at major shopping areas. It is amazing to see how much commercialization goes into this holiday, especially for a country that doesn’t celebrate the true version of Christmas. The major “religions” (which no one really practices, either) are Shinto and Buddhism, so any Christmas “tradition” is solely for commercial reasons. Some even believe that December 25th is Santa’s Birthday. The 24th and 25th are not national holidays here, therefore many stores are open all day, but thanks to the Emperor’s Birthday being December 23 schools are closed which means we don’t have to work. Thank you Emperor Heisei!
The “Christmas Cake” is a necessity to Japanese Christmas. Where the cake came from nobody knows. When you ask a Japanese person why they do this custom, their response is “you mean, you don’t cake on Christmas??” The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a ‘Christmas Cake’ which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work. The cake is usually a white sponge cake with strawberries. Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. Any cakes left after Christmas are seen to be very old or out of date. The saying goes, that women who are unmarried over 25 years old are called “Christmas Cakes.” Because, well, no one wants a Christmas Cake after the 25th. Though, thankfully, that mindset is slowly modernizing.
Another facet to Christmas celebrations here, with thanks to Globalization, is Kentucky Fried Chicken (home-grown right from our very own, Salt Lake City). KFC has gained quite a foothold into the Christmas market. Many Japanese people make reservations ahead of time for their “Christmas Chicken Bucket.” People line up at their local KFC to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC’s brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey. You may remember our photo with Col Sanders Santa from last year. Our students are always shocked when we tell them that we don’t eat this supposed Christmas Cake and Chicken.
Christmas Eve has been hyped by the T.V. media as being a time for romantic miracles. This holiday has become more of a romantic Valentines Day pt.2 here. It is seen as a time to be spent with one’s boyfriend or girlfriend in a romantic setting, so fancy restaurants and hotels are often booked solid at this time. It is often also a time when girls get to reveal their affections to boys and vice versa. Because of this, extending a girl an invitation to be together on Christmas Eve has very deep, romantic implications. There is a lot of pressure to buy expensive gifts and spend money on hotel to really impress your girlfriend.
Within the family, parents give presents to their children, but the children do not give presents to the parents. The reasoning behind this is that only Santa bring presents, so once the children no longer believe in Santa the presents are no longer given. Many students here have an idea of Santa.
We are somewhat feeling the Christmas spirit here, definitely more so than on Shikoku, but sometimes we miss the sight of snow and Christmasy things from home: Cinnamon smelling pine cones, Salvation Army bell ringers, Christmas tree smells, candy canes, etc.
With that, a very Merry Christmas from the MacBeths!!
