Japanese Christmas Fun Facts:
- The above picture is a typical Japanese Christmas Cake. It’s something pretty much every family eats on Christmas. It’s usually store-bought, but they sometimes homemake them as well. I ordered mine several weeks ago from a local patisserie and I’m going to pick it up later today.
- In Japan they do have Santa Claus, and they call him Santa-san, and he is the only person who gives presents. Family members do not generally give presents to one another—only the children will receive presents ‘from Santa-san.’
- Christmas Eve is one of the biggest days of the year for couples. It’s just as, if not more important than Valentine’s Day.
- Apparently they think that everyone in America eats chicken on Christmas, which is not the case as far as I know. At places like KFC and McDonalds and MOS Burger they have special “Christmas Chicken” deals going on, and I’m told that this is because they think this is some kind of American tradition.
- New Years is a much bigger holiday than Christmas here (as you would expect, I guess, from a non-Christian country). Whole families usually gather at the grandparents’ house for New Years, and it is celebrated for 3 days straight.
- It seems to me that Wham!s song “Last Christmas” is far and away the most popular Christmas song in Japan. I have heard it basically every day either on the radio or on TV or in stores and restaurants. I’ve been told by a few Japanese people that whenever they think of Christmas, that is the very first song that pops into their head. It’s just shocking to me because I didn’t even know how the song went, that’s how little I had heard it back in the States. I wonder how popular it is in the UK, since Wham! is a British group…
This past weekend Shino and I went to Nagoya, about a 4-hour train ride away from Kurobe, to see the winter illumination at なばなの里 (“Nabana no Sato,” or “The Town of Nabana (which is some flower that I don’t know the name of in English)”). It’s one of the biggest and most famous displays of Christmas lights in the country and it’s really quite impressive. There were some spectacular displays, but the mainstay of the place is their “Aurora Borealis,” an effect created by colored light shining upon sprays of mist at the end of a huge field of lights. You can see the “Aurora” in some of the pictures above, But those are just a sample of what we saw there, and you can see more in this flickrset. You can also get the full hi-res images there if you want.
It was a great trip. My only real complaint is that it was incredibly crowded, but for good reason, I suppose. I especially liked that they didn’t bombard us with Christmas music there, as such places are often wont to do. Instead it was nice, subtle, somewhat wintry ambient music.
I have some nice videos, too, but I still need to compile them, so that will come later (hopefully tomorrow).
Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon and Yoko Ono
It never really feels like Christmas until the first time I hear this song each year.
This year it was hearing it sung live by Yoko herself on Japanese television.
Click the photograph to download, or click here.
Track Listing:
- Xmas Rulez, Voldemort Droolz - Harry and the Potters
- Winter Wonderland - hellogoodbye
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
- All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey
- The Christmas Song - Bing Crosby
- Do You See What I See - Sufjan Stevens
- Baby It’s Cold Outside - Zooey Deschanel + Leon Redbone
- Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys
- Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday - *NSYNC
- You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch - Dr. Seuss
- Sleigh Ride - Relient K
- The First Song - Band Of Horses
- Christmas In The Room - Sufjan Stevens
- The Twelve Days of Wizard Christmas
- Christmas At The Zoo - The Flaming Lips
- Yule Shoot Your Eye Out - Fall Out Boy
- The First Noel (Nole) - Bing Crosby
- All I Want For Christmas Is Us - Tristan Prettyman + Jason Mraz
- Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
- White Christmas - Bright Eyes
- I Won’t Be Home For Christmas - Blink-182
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Copeland
- I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Doris Day
- The Night Before Christmas - Bright Eyes
Happy Holidays!
(via musicalgraves, and mixtapemadness)
About Me
My name is Lawrence Denes.After spending 5 years studying Japanese language, culture, literature, and history in St. Louis and Kyoto, I now live in Japan, in a town that most Japanese people have never even heard of, lost amid the rice fields and vending machines.
Please feel free to ask me anything, or send me an email.
