For what I interpret from Vicenzo's post is that some of those gifts have some type of sexual connotation on them ? (If it is I did not know Japanese people are THAT open minded, but that could make a thread on itself)
Anyhow, it seems like Japan is not a nice place to spend Christmas if you are the traditional type.
JB, you got it, the boyfriend knows the situation and there is a lot of pressure on him in choosing that gift. The next few weeks of gossip will surround this choice. Was it candy? What kind of candy? Was it earrings? What stone was in the earring or was it just metal? Was it a thoughtful gift? Typically, it will be small because he has to carry it. I would say that the gift is rarely sexual in nature.
If a divorcee has a date, then it will be a good time. If not, it tends to be a bad time as people tend to focus on what they don't have. That is somewhat true all around the world though. For many in western countries, Christmas is a miserable time of the year because it reminds them of loss or their current situation.
The Japanese culture has some interesting new modern twist that would seem pretty odd to foreigners. Nowhere is this more obvious than male and female relationships.
LDS, you are right. Japan was not much fun to be in for Christmas if you were expecting a family oriented event. However, I did have a few romantic Christmas Eve's with my wife, so that wasn't too bad! But, I did miss not having family around the dinner table that is for sure!
I was thinking about what you were saying about there not being enough room to put up a tree, so here is a great alternative since I am sure a lot of people have laptops there:
USB Christmas Tree
Vincenzo, bet you are wishing you had one of those when you were there .
Japan Christmas (Hover)