Merry Christmas - Japan style

I have celebrated Christmas many different ways with many different people.  But none of them are like the way Japan celebrates Christmas.  The day after Halloween, Christmas decorations are put up.  Stores start playing Christmas music.  Beautiful light displays are lit up and brighten the dark skies, bringing cheer to all.  There is special food on sale.  Cakes are decorated with little Santas and snowmen.  There are lots of special Santa appearances (but no lines to sit on Santa's lap that I've ever seen or heard of).  It is a joyful time.  I would venture to say that Japanese people love to celebrate holidays.  They put so much effort into it.

Even the convenience stores sell Christmas desserts!

My son was super excited always asking how many more "sleeps" until Santa came to bring him a present.  He often donned a Santa hat, singing "Jingle Bells" every time he placed it on his head.  Wanting to fully understand Japanese Christmas, I began asking the park moms what they do.  Some put up little fake trees, but most did not.  Everyone got their child exactly one gift from Santa.  Only one family that I asked gave their children a second present - from Papa Santa. 

Traditionally, Christmas in Japan is celebrated more like Valentine's Day than Christmas.  It is a day for couples and romance, not a day for celebrating with family from near and far.  It usually consists of a date of seeing holiday lights, eating KFC chicken, and finishing it off with a slice of Christmas cake.  The cake tends to be the same cakes that are popular year round with a little decoration on it.

After two months of ramp up, the big holiday finally came.  On Christmas eve, my husband and I tucked a present for my son next to his pillow.  At 5 am, when he wandered from his bed to ours, he showed up excited, announcing "Santa came and left me a present!"  He then put the wrapped present onto my nightstand and crawled into bed.  For the next hour and a half I listened as he lamented "It is so hard to wait!  This morning is taking forever to come!"  When daddy's alarm went off, he ripped open his gift and started playing with it immediately.  I wouldn't normally let Legos into our bed, but it was Christmas. 

Then it was time for my husband to go to work.  Since Christmas isn't a national holiday here, adults go to work and kids go to school.  I made my son breakfast, and we played for a while until it was time to get ready to go to the park.  I did a load of laundry and washed the dished, while packing our lunch of ham sandwiches and bean soup. 

This was purchased at a bakery.  I didn't make it!

At the park, our friends greeted us with a jolly "Merry Christmas" greeting.  The kids excitedly told everyone what they received for Christmas.  Then the kids went and rode their bikes and ran around, while the moms sat on our picnic mats and chatted.  At one point I ran to the store because my son was begging for an apple.  At the store, there were special stickers on the chicken and holiday music on the loud speaker, but otherwise it was the same as any other day. 

There were several times I actually forgot it was Christmas!  It was such a non-event that is was easy to forget.  When we got home, we had a couple cards in the mail and a special package, too.  These were the best part of the day!  It felt like love was coming out of our mailbox. 

So, when you are planning your next Christmas getaway, I'd skip Japan.  There are so many other fantastic times to visit this fascinating country.  But this specific holiday is all about the buildup with no finale.