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Japan Christmas

Japan Christmas

Within this Thread you may discuss how Christmas is celebrated in this country.

Christmas Japan

The Japanese really like the commercial idea of Christmas. You can see this in all the department stores. They are decorated with lots of beautiful Christmas trees and Santas are frequently seen. Basically, the 3 weeks before Christmas, it reminds me a lot of the US.

The differnce in Japan is that the whole event is focused more on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day and that there is no religious attachment to the holiday itself. As long as a child still holds Santa in high praise, a gift will be received on Christmas Day. However, gift giving is not really common at all among other family members or friends.

Basically, in the house there is no Christmas Tree. There really is not enough room for such a thing.

For adults, this is where it gets a bit on the strange side (pretty much why I hesitated to write). Christmas Eve is quite the social outting and is very important to a couple. If a woman was young and unmarried with a boyfriend, this would be a very important night. There would be expected to be a very nice dinner. They and in particular she would be very dressed up for the night out. If you were to be in Tokyo on Christmas Eve, you would see quite a lot of lovely dressed women. The guy would give the girl a gift. This is also very important because what you get means different things. Usually, this includes a hotel stay and since this is not a mature area, I will refrain from going much further! All I can say is that there is not a lot of religious meaning to the holiday as Japan is mostly buddist or shinto, but they love the commercial aspect of the holiday!

Japan Christmas Christmas

I was just wondering if the Santa Claus is depicted with oriental features, and do they bring out the ham and turkey or something else?

Christmas Japan

Santa is western style version. Looks like they were plucked stright off a holiday Coke bottle. There really is no dinner inside the house. The holiday is all around Christmas Eve mostly and married and dating couples go out to a nice restaurant. I have not seen a really western style dinner, but it would depend on what restaurant you would go to. It is all about "showing off" in public with nice dress and a fine meal.

Edited: Vincenzo on 11th Dec, 2006 - 2:34am

Christmas Japan

So then it is treated more like a Valentines Day than Christmas? There must be shops selling trees, ornaments and such that cater for the heavy US American presence there though?

Japan Christmas

Interesting Vincenzo, so basically if you are poor and you do not have a boyfriend or girlfriend then you are doomed?

Japan Christmas

Hmmm...I was trying to keep it in the jolly festive mood, but you have seen the issue with the Japanese Christmas. Let me go a bit further with the discussion. The Japanese Christmas is really more important for the female and in particularly for a unmarried female (hopefully with boyfriend). For the married couples, it is a chance to go out and strut your stuff on Christmas Eve. It is the same for the unmarried couple, but the gift that is given to the girl is scrutinized by her and her friends. There is a LOT of meaning as to what gift is given.

For the girl that doesn't have a date, this is a really bad time of the year, because it reminds you that you are not married. At age 25, you are really supposed to be married in Japanese culture. This age is shifting to later in life, but is still not far from that number. There is a horrible analogy for these women. It has to do with Christmas cakes that are made in mass by stores. Just before Christmas Eve, there is a made rush by the owners to sell off these cakes and the price goes down drastically from the weeks before Christmas. On the day after Christams, these cakes are seen as out of date and unwanted. Therefore, there is a phrase that equates the girl without a Christmas Eve date that is over 25 as a "old Christmas cake". Unfortunately, women will work very hard to have a date for Christmas Eve to avoid this comparison!

I had thought that Christmas in the US had become commerical and superficial until I stayed in Japan. It is not a pretty picture...sorry.

Japan Christmas Christmas

Okay, so then Christmas is mostly a status of symbol of the differences between married, single and in a relationship, so I wonder where the divorcee fits in?

So, what is to be interpreted by the gift: how expensive it is, how big it is, how romantic it is? I would imagine that the guy will try to go all out knowing that this level of scrutiny will take place?