Christmas

So a lot of people have asked me about Christmas in Japan. Well, the Japanese are masters at appropriating elements or foreign cultures and then thoroughly Japanizing them to fit the the needs of their own culture.

Christmas is no exception.

About as cloying as it gets...

Or happy whatever it is you happen to be celebrating this holiday season!

Are you one of those people who wished it could be Christmas every day?

Do you start counting down the days to the holiday season in June? Well wait no more, because Hotel Chapel Christmas offers the full festive experience 365 days a year!

Despite the recent financial crisis the spirit of Christmas is still alive in Kobe. Have a walk through Kobe's China Town streets and verify on your own.

These are photos and videos from my recent trip to Tokyo. I tried to document any Christmas decoration on my way. A difficult task as Tokyo is may be the most Christmas decorated city in the world!
Enjoy.

Salaryman, cozy bars and restaurant, a singing locomotive - these sums it all (more or less) :)

With about a month to go before Christmas, Santa Claus arrived Sunday at Narita airport on a Finnair flight from Finland. Santa Claus will take part in Christmas events in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and other places during his Japan tour through Dec 24, and give gifts to children at nurseries and kindergartens, Finnair said.

Although Christmas is not an official holiday in Japan, it is observed in other ways.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas, one can find lines of Japanese standing outside of KFC for a little bit of the Colonel's Christmas Chicken.

Christmas Cake is a popular item which sells for about 30-50 bucks at convenience stores. It's also a term used to refer to women over 26.

While Santa's away, the reindeer will play. See a group of reindeer dance, sing, swear, drink beer, play pool, throw darts, and experiment with their sexuality while on leave in Tokyo.

Dasher gives a drunken rant about being stuck behind Rudolph of Red Nose fame for the last 70 years.

WARNING! Contains offensive language because I couldn't find where to download that profanity bleep sound.

My first Christmas in Japan was quite a surprise. When I got here, I didn't expect the Japanese people I would meet to be very religious, so after arriving in my city I was surprised to find myself surrounded by a kind community of Japanese Baptists who ran a friendly church complete with a kindergarten for the local kids. Then came the Buddhist Christmas...

While I was changing trains at a train station in Tokyo, I spotted a right jolly old elf, making his way quickly thru the station.

Sure enough, it was Old Saint Nick!

I got a bit of footage before he laid his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the escalator he rose then he jumped into a taxi and headed off to Kabukicho before they clean the place up.

Merry Christmas to Japundit, and all its readers!


Except for the small number of Japanese Christians, Christmas in Japan isn't celebrated and the Christmas Day is a normal working day. The department stores celebrate Christmas, but then they celebrate everything they can think of. When the Japanese think of Christmas, they think of Christmas Eve.

A short piece on the occasional confusion of Christian Holidays in Japan.

Christmas is approaching, and in Japan that means one thing: lots of pretty twinkling lights. Throughout the country there are hundreds of romantic light displays that offer beautiful illumination and imagery for the Christmas season.