It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

The day after Halloween, my son and I went to the shopping center.  There was no sign of Halloween anywhere.  No clearance pumpkins, or bags of candy.  No marked down costumes or decorations.  I actually texted my husband looking for a hint of where it all could be.  He responded saying it was in storage.  I rolled my eyes thinking "he must not want me to buy all the cheap candy."

It wasn't just gone.  All the orange was replaced with red and green.  The Christmas decorations were already going up.  The Christmas merchandise was already on the shelves.  It hadn't even been 24 hours.

While I find the enthusiasm for most holidays to be overboard here, Christmas really takes the cake.  I've written before how strange it is that there is all this ramp up for little to no finale.  There seems to be an obsession with western holidays, while Japanese holidays (with the exception of New Year's) go by practically unnoticed.  Once again, the reason for the season is missing and therefore it all falls flat.  Christianity isn't very popular in Japan.  You can find churches and Christian communities, but they are not the norm by any means. 

Christmas is actually celebrated as a holiday for couples not for families or kids.  It is much closer to Valentine's Day.  Couples go out on dates, they don't stay home or go to grandma's house.  The ramp up involves children, and some families have begun to buy presents for their kids to open up on Christmas morning.  But that is still building in popularity. 

So out with the pumpkins and in with the fir boughs.  It is so weird for me since the leaves are still so vibrant.  The temperatures have dropped, but it isn't quite scarf weather.  That will be right around the corner.  My son excited asked "When is Christmas?"  "Not for 2 months" I groaned.

But today he got to celebrate a little bit.  Today, November 3, was the tree lighting in the shopping center.  Although my husband and I have never celebrated Christmas in our home, we have always enjoyed celebrating with others and participating in community events.  Even thought it was WAY too early in my opinion (that's what happens when you don't have a holiday between Halloween and Christmas.  Once done with one, you jump to the next), we headed to the town shopping center to ring in the season.

We got there early so our son could enjoy the train rides being offered to shoppers.  Then we registered him to be one of "Santa's Little Helpers".  We also enjoyed some of the performances they had on the stage.  Don't call me a Scrooge, but I don't know how cheerful I'm going to be the next two months if I have to keep hearing "Last Christmas" on repeat.  I would rather listen to "12 Days of Christmas" or anything by Alvin and the Chipmunks any day. 

When it was time for him to perform his duties as one of "Santa's Little Helpers," we helped our son into his Santa suit.  He along with 29 other kids headed on stage with the IMA mascot (the big blue cat called Ima-nyan) and a former NHK (like PBS) kid's show star to light the Christmas tree.  They sang a couple songs and counted down to turn on the lights.  The show was short and sweet, but my son had a great time.  He loves to be on stage and he LOVES Christmas.

When we returned his Santa costume, he was given a treat bag as a thank you.  As soon as I looked at it, I burst out laughing.  Inside were several Halloween treats - the same ones he received for the Halloween parade!  I guess my husband was right... now I know what they do with all the leftover Halloween merchandise.  They give it away to kids as thank you gifts!