The Eccentricities of Christmas in Japan

This is a delayed entry given that both Christmas, and New Year have passed now. But I just couldn`t let the strangeness of Japanese Christmas go by without a mention.

Christmas is distorted in Japan, as one of my J.T.Es said. This is a phenomenally HUGE understatement of the century. Chriistmas in Japan is nearly unrecognizable to me and my experience of it in England. But, the fact there are still Christmas trees, and it is still called Christmas on top of all the other oddities, is what makes it so damn weird!

It is, I would say, definitely true to say, that Japan is a very consumerist society. Yuji told me that the celebration of Christmas has been propelled into the Japanese consciousness not by any Christian missionaries (who have had very limited effect here), but by the shops, department stores and businesses – all marketing it very intensely in November-December. They want more purchases and the shopping associated with Christmas, and therefore Christmas, is obviously a very beneficial (financially-speaking) occasion to promote.

For some reason the key market at Christmas time is the young couple. Since the 1970s (when Christmas was first started to be celebrated in Japan) shops and businesses have created, out of thin air, Christmas Eve as some sort of alternative Valentine`s day night. Over this time I suppose a sense of guilt/ duty has been created in the Japanese men to take their partners out for a romantic dinner, buy them flowers etc. You can see this marketing everywhere – all the advertising posters have soft pictures of couples bent over a Christmas cake (more about that later), all the restaurants have boards advertising their Christmas menu for two. Just bizarre. Bizarre because Japan has taken this festival of Christmas, but for some reason has not taken the idea that it is a time for family, but completely invented it as a celebration of romantic love!!! Interesting to see how certain ideas are picked up as they are spread around the world, and other ideas are completely not seen and forgotten.

Aside from the consumerist aspects of taking your partner out, and buying Christmas presents the Japanese are entirely confused about what they are meant to do for Christmas. It is something that has been imposed on them by the shops, and therefore, once the purchasing aspects have been done, there are no real clues, this side of the world, as to what else should be done.

The nation have a vague awareness that Americans eat chicken (err…) at Christmas. So typically that is also something that Japanese people have adopted at this time of year. Yuji cooks a chicken for his family. (Quote from Yuji – “we eat chicken ….. but we don`t know why…..” said wistfully). (It is impossible to buy a turkey in Japan by the way).

I laughed a lot when I saw a brochure advertising their Christmas food in one of my local supermarkets: on the centre fold there was a big photograph of a magnificent roast chicken (and presumably a few roasted vegetables) with large plates of sushi displayed around it with pride! What I get a feeling of, is that families may have a meal of chicken, with their other favourite foods that they like – ie sushi (as it is one of the most popular food choices for the Japanese – and me!!) Apparently, (I don`t know if this is true – there can be queues of people outside KFC on Christmas day, because that`s what the Japanese know that Americans eat!)

The Christmas Cake makes up a very significant part of Japanese Christmas. Also, important to the English Christmas (though to a lesser extent proportionally due to all the other stuff in England). Though English Christmas Cake and Japanese Christmas Cake are two entirely different beasts/ genera/ phyla!
I do not know WHERE the Japanese got their inspiration for their Christmas Cake – but it can`t be from this earth. It is as different from the English version as is possible to get – a light sponge, and whipped cream concoction decorated with cut fresh strawberries. Sometimes there is a token Santa figure which may form part of the decoration but this isn`t hugely necessary.
Though, I have just remembered that, in thinking about this before with someone, I realized that the strawberries and whipped cream may have been initially used for their colours – red and white – Santa.
This cake is everywhere in the run-up to Christmas. Every family will have one. All the students will mention it when I ask them “what is Christmas in Japan?”. Looks pretty yuck to me. Primarily because it is TOTALLY out of season!

With the huge exception of Christmas time I have found food shopping in Japan to be a very seasonal experience. It is obvious to know which vegetable is currently in season because they dominant the vegetable department and they taste so damn good. But, the strawberries in mid-winter are a crazy, major deviance from this.

These obviously fake, out of season, very forced fruits are displayed on shelves surrounded by holly and pictures of Christmas trees. It is very, VERY bizarre to see.
The cake instantly looked like something to eat in summer for me. I was very confused by it. I didn`t eat out of principal (and lack of opportunity more like!)

The universal-across-Japan Christmas drink is champagne. I think I have the same reaction of – “that`s a bit odd that everybody does that”, to the Japanese reaction when I say that champagne is a universal-across-England drink for New Year, because they don`t do that in Japan.

Aside, from the shopping, buying, and eating and drinking there really is nothing else to Christmas in Japan. Which is a bit sad really, and why I didn`t really want to spend Christmas here.

The reason why it`s a bit sad is that there are bits of Christmas here, but just the surface parts. The Christmas colours are still red and green. Holly is a Christmas plant. Of course, they have Santa Claus.

Many of the parts of Christmas that are significant for me, are not here. Which is a little strange. For example the Christmas cards.

Although there are Christmas cards sold in shops, to send Christmas cards is by no means a widespread custom in Japan. I discovered this when I decided to send Christmas cards to all my friends in Japan – as it would be something that I would do in England. I thought it would be a nice way of showing some English culture (and they were really thrilled with their cards – the first ones they had ever received). I discovered, when I tried to buy the Christmas cards, that they are only sold as individuals, not in the big multiple packs you can buy in England. This just shows that if you are going to send a card, you probably will just send one, (maybe to your lover! Seeing as that`s what it`s about here!)

Christmas cards are another aspect of this funny festival that the Japanese celebrate, but that are confusing to the Japanese. I realized this when I was doing a fun making Christmas card lesson just before the holidays. They had to be told EVERYTHING. The Christmas card opens “this way” (plus demonstration of opening). (Understandable I suppose, because the Japanese do read books and magazines back to front).
They had to be told – “The picture goes here. The writing goes here.” The students were all very confused that there should be no picture where the writing was. Boring! They almost all wrote all over the whole inside of the card, and drew pictures inside too. Even my J.T.E, after showing her my draft of the worksheet to help them with the format of the card,forcefully insisted I should have some little picture next to the writing!

What they drew as a picture on the card was interesting for me to see basically what Christmas is, to them. Often santa was drawn in the form of an anime character santa (who looks rather different from the Father Christmas figure I`m used to). They drew Christmas trees – and it is true most families do have a Christmas tree (never real of course though – I doubt you`d be able to buy them here).
Christmas trees are decorated in a similar way to England. But I was interested to learn from Yuji that many people often take the Christmas tree down, ON Christmas day!! How funny is that! Just shows it is not an important festival really.

And why should it be, really? Why is it here at all? Thinking rationally I should not be put out that Christmas is just a time for consumerism here because why should it be anything more than that? Christmas has no part in Japanese culture, no part in Japanese history. I did feel a little put out though, in the run-up to Christmas. (But I think that`s because the superficial reminders I was getting here – xmas trees etc, reminded me of everything else that was not here, that I was missing).
Objectively, I should be glad Christmas is not really here. And I AM glad about that. I like a culturally diverse world. I AM glad that the Christian missionaries have been solely unsuccessful here. Very glad!!

The sad thing is though, that this strange distorted, consumerist Christmas that the Japanese people don`t really know why they celebrate, and in general don`t know what they are supposed to be doing, seems to be growing, and taking over the traditional Japanese New Year. I have been doing lessons about Japanese New Year with my classes at the moment. Students and teachers could come up with a huge number of traditions – special activities, food and decorations that happen at New Year when they really thought about it. And I learn something new in every lesson – it`s really interesting.

In some of my classes the students find it difficult to recall though. Arai-sensei regretted the fact that now, this biggest festival in the Japanese year is becoming a bit diminished over the general population because of the rise of Christmas. It used to be that all the family would have holiday, and be together, but now some people are working. He was saying that my lessons were important to remind the students all about New Year and how it is special!

Hopefully, this weirdo Christmas won`t overcome New Year in Japan, because I think that would be a shame.