monochrome fuji-san ﾓﾉｸﾛ富士山 (kamakura, japan)

Posted by timothy sullivan (Tokyo, Japan) on 24 December 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

Quite a few people have been asking me lately various questions about what the Japanese do celebrationwise at this time of year. Over the coming few days, I will be writing some degree of explanation--and where I can, I hope to provide some photos.

So: many people have asked whether the Japanese celebrate Christmas. Being a predominantly non-Christian society, the simple answer would be "not really"; however, the Japanese are a culture-assimilatory people, and as such there are a great deal of "Christmasy" things here: Christmas trees, decorations, and even Christmas music/concerts.

During my six years here, I have seen a rising trend in terms of how Western holidays (and particularly North American ones) are adopted here. 2008, for instance, saw Halloween items retailed en masse for the first time: whereas in previous years, a limited amount of Halloween candy was available in selected import stores, this year, the candy--along with costumes and makeup--was retailed on a much wider scale, even making its way to local convenience stores.

Meanwhile, the "traditional" Japanese Christmas has evolved in a similar direction. In the past, Christmas was (and continues to be) a couples holiday: boyfriends and girlfriends would go out for a romantic (= expensive) dinner and exchange small gifts. Families and sometimes offices would purchase Christmas cakes, usually ornate chocolate or vanilla sponge cakes layered and topped with sliced strawberries. (I suspect this tradition is meant to mirror the British custom, but cannot find supportive references.) Also, around the holiday time many places around Japan sport festive illuminations.

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