In my country, the Philippines, we celebrate Christmas by going to midnight Mass, eating a huge feast afterwards and then exchanging gifts. We also adopted some western traditions like hanging stockings (even if we don’t have chimneys), candy canes, and Santa Claus. Every country in my opinion has a unique way of celebrating Christmas.

Have you ever wondered what the Japanese people do during Christmas eve and Christmas day? Only about 1.5% of Japanese are Christians. However, their present lifestyles have enabled them to adopt the common customs of celebrating Christmas.

December 24 and 25 are not considered holidays in Japan. December 23, though, is a holiday (Emperor’s birthday). Still, the Japanese are still fond of the celebration. They decorate their homes and shops with Christmas trees, mistletoe and fairy lights. Santa Clauses, beautiful illuminations and other Christmas decorations are all over public places, adding cheer and excitement.

Christmas has been considered as a special celebration to the Japanese, especially the ladies and the teenagers. They see it as an event to spend with their friends and loved ones. Christmas dates and Christmas dinners are musts (You might remember seeing Christmas dates tons of times in anime and manga). Gift-giving is also always a part of the celebration, whether it’s in a party, a date, or a simple Christmas dinner at home.

Although most young people go to fancy restaurants and hotels for their Christmas dinner, a lot still celebrate at home by preparing their special home-cooked meals. The most common dinner must is fried or roasted chicken. It is accompanied by fried potatoes or fried noodles with plum wine or sake as drinks. For those who are busy at work, they just head over to Kentucky Fried Chicken and order a bucket. It’s no joke. KFCs in Japan are always very busy during Christmas day because apparently, ordering bucket of chicken from them has become a customary part of the Japanese Christmas dinner.

Of course, as I said, there is always something unique in a country when celebrating Christmas. In Japan, it is the ever popular Christmas cake!

A Japanese Christmas cake is typically a round sponge cake with whipped cream and fruit toppings, mainly mangoes, peaches and strawberries. Note that Christmas cakes are only meant to be eaten during Christmas time. That is why stores usually sellout these cakes with huge discounts on the 25th in order to sell them all before December 26th comes. From this came the not-so-polite very old remark of “She’s Christmas cake,” meaning a woman past her 25th year is no longer within the desirable marrying age and will have to do big discounts and promotions in order to get a date. Thankfully, that remark is not used as often nowadays.

Although Christmas in Japan is celebrated more of the commercial way, it cannot be denied that it’s still fun and endearing. Whether it’s dinner with the family, party with friends or romantic scarf-giving date with spouses/lovers, Christmas in Japan is still something to be treasured and admired.

How about you? How do you spend your Christmas?

References:
• Japan Guide.com
• Go Japan
• Nihiru for intro photo