How is X-mas celebrated in your country?

Christmas isn’t nearly as big of a holiday in Japan as it is in western countries.
In Japan, New Years is the biggest holiday.

In Japan, Xmas is a regular workday and many people don’t even bother to celebrate it at all.
Generally speaking, X-mas Eve is considered a romantic evening for couples to go on a date…often to a place with X-mas Illumination, and either on X-mas Eve or X-mas Day families eat a Christmas dinner (often of Kentucky Fried Chicken).
Champagne and “Christmas cake” are popular parts of a X-mas dinner in Japan too.

Japanese X-mas cake (from "Fujiya")

To give you an idea of how X-mas is spent in Japan, some statistics from a poll taken by monitoring group conducting a poll of Japanese people (the respondents were a ratio of 50:50 male:female and between the ages of 20-60):

• How do you spend Christmas?
  - Relax at home 45%
  - Nothing special 19%
  - Party at home 17%
  - Go on a date 10%
  - Go drinking 5%
  - Take a trip 4%

• Who do you spend X-mas with?
  - Family 64%
  - Boyfriend / girlfriend 11%
  - Undecided 11%
  - Alone 8%
  - Friends 5%
  - Other 1%

• What will you eat on X-mas? (multiple answers OK)
  - Christmas cake 61%
  - Roast chicken 53%
  - Fried chicken 47%
  - Pizza 39%
  - Salad 35%
  - Sushi 25%

• What will you drink on X-mas? (multiple answers OK)
  - Beer 44%
  - Champagne 43%
  - Wine 36%
  - Other 29%

How important is Christmas in your country? What is your country’s biggest holiday?
How is X-mas celebrated in your country?

Top 5 X-mas Illuminations in Japan

In Japan, Christmas isn’t a national holiday. If December 25th falls on a weekday then it’s just a normal workday in Japan.

But that said, クリスマス (X-mas) is still a big holiday in Japan. Not the biggest though…the most important holiday in Japan is 正月 (New Years).

I wrote a post before that explains a bit about Christmas in Japan…and another one that explains a bit about New Years in Japan.

To summarize though, Christmas isn’t the same in Japan as it is in Western countries.
Even though New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday, stores and streets in Japan put up X-mas decorations on November 1st (as soon as the Halloween decorations come down) and take them down on December 26th.
On December 26th in Japan, the Xmas decorations are quickly replaced with New Years decorations which stay up until around January 5th.
So Japan is decorated for the imported holiday of Christmas for fifty-six days but only about two weeks for New Years.

Basically the image of X-mas in Japan is a romantic evening for couples on クリスマス・イヴ (Christmas Eve) and a day for families with children on クリスマス (Christmas Day).

One of the popular dates spots for couples on and before X-mas Eve is to look at クリスマス・イルミネーション (X-mas lights (or, as they’re called in Japan, “Christmas illumination“)).

X-mas illumination at "Roppongi Hills" in downtown Tokyo.

There is a website that shows some of the best 「全国イルミネーション・スポット」 (Illumination Spots around Japan).

One part of that website lists 「イルミネーションおすすめスポット Best 5」 (“Top 5 Recommended Illumination Spots”).

The list is:

• 「六本木ヒルズ Artelligent Christmas 2010」　(“Roppongi Hills Artelligent Christmas 2010” in Tokyo, Japan)
• 「神戸ルミナリェ」 (“Kobe Luminarie” in Kobe, Japan)
• 「２０１０SENDAI光のページェント」 (“2010 Sendai Light Pageant” in Sendai, Japan)
• 「第３０回さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション」 (“30th Sapporo White Illumination” in Sapporo, Japan)
• 「OSAKA光のルネサンス２０１０」 (“Osaka Light Renaissance 2010” in Osaka, Japan)

Also, check out this post that I wrote with photos of the X-mas illumination at Tokyo Tower and in Roppongi, Tokyo.
And also this one that I wrote about Omotesando, Tokyo turning the X-mas illumination back on last year after eleven years of not decorating.

How is Christmas celebrated where you live? Are stores already decorated for X-mas? Is looking at 「クリスマス・イルミネーション」 (X-mas lights) popular?

Emperor’s birthday

Today is Christmas Eve.

In many ways X-mas and New Years are exact opposites of each other in Japan and Western countries.

In Western countries, Xmas is the biggest holiday of the year with the post office busy delivering Xmas cards, many stores are closed and families gather to enjoy a big dinner together and give gifts to children.
And then New Years is celebrated on New Years Eve and quietly ends the next day.

In Japan, it’s the other way around.
Here, Christmas is often celebrated in Xmas Eve by couples going on a date and families having a dinner of chicken and Xmas cake for dessert (just as many people have this dinner on Xmas Day as do on Xmas Eve). But Xmas ends quietly and people get ready for New Years…Japan’s biggest holiday.
Just like Xmas in the West, in Japan New Years is the biggest holiday of the year with the post office busy delivering 年賀状 (New Years postcards), many stores are closed and families gather to enjoy a big dinner together and give gifts (お年玉) to children.

Click here to read the post I wrote about Japanese Xmas last year.

Also, yesterday was 天皇誕生日 (the Emperor of Japan’s birthday).
Christmas isn’t a legal holiday in Japan…it’s a regular work / school day, but the Emperor’s birthday is a legal holiday.
It’s also one of the only two times a year that the public is allowed inside the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace (the other time is just after the New Year).
People who go into the Palace grounds can see the Japanese Royal Family and hear the Emperor give his annual birthday speech.

Last year, I wrote a post about the Emperor’s birthday too. Click here to read it.

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Completely unrelated, but I heard about a website called 「美人時計」 (“Beautiful Girl Clock“).

It show a new photograph every minute of a pretty girl in the Tokyo holding a board with the current time (of course in Japanese Standard Time (JST)).

This site is extremely popular. So they decided to make another version…now there’s a 「ギャル時計」 (“Gal Clock“) too.
“Gal” is a type of 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) girl fashion.

Click here for the 「美人時計」 (“Beautiful Girl Clock“).
And Click here for the 「ギャル時計」 (“Gal Clock“)

X-mas Illumination

Today is 冬至 (Winter Solace).
Click here to read my post about it last year and see how fruit plays an important part of this day in Japan.

In Japan, at Christmastime, many places put up beautiful X-mas light decorations…or 「イルミネーション」 (illumination), as it’s called in Japan.

Couples in Japan like to look at the Xmas illuminations on dates at this time of year.

Last night we went to Tokyo Tower to see the it lit up special for Xmas. On TV they said that every evening until x-mas, Tokyo Tower will be lit up with a heart in the center of the tower from 7:30 – 8:00 PM…so we went to see it.

After that, we went to Tokyo Midtown in 六本木 (Roppongi) to see their elaborate display.

11年ぶりの表参道通りクリスマスイルミネーション

表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) is a street in downtown Tokyo similar to “Rodeo Drive” in Beverly Hills, California.

It’s one of (but not the only) areas in Tokyo with many luxury brand stores.

Every year near Christmas time, the tree-lined street with but lit up with 「クリスマスイルミネーション」 (Xmas lights).

In the same way that there are other high-end shopping areas in Tokyo, there are also plenty of other places with beautiful Xmas illumination displays.
But 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) was always one of the most popular places for couples to go on a date to enjoy the romantic lit up displays.

But in 1998, 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) suddenly stopped decorating the street for Xmas.

There were still plenty of other places to see beautiful displays around Tokyo.
And in 2005, Omotesando Hills was built on 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) and they have their own Xmas illuminations.

It’s been eleven years since 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) had stopped doing their Xmas illuminations so I had forgotten about it.

But live on television last night I saw 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) being lit up for Xmas again. The first time since 1998.
I can’t believe it’s been eleven years since I saw 表参道通りクリスマスイルミネーション (Omotesando-dori Xmas light display)! And now they’ve brought it back.

Culture Day

Today is a Japanese holiday called 「文化の日」 (Culture Day).

On this day, the Emperor Of Japan give medals in a special awards ceremony to people who have contributed to Japan.
Today nearly 700 people who be awarded various medals for things ranging from people who conducted rescue operations in a boating accident to athletes to a video-game developer.

My wife’s grandfather received a medal from the Emperor years ago for having served in the volunteer fire department for fifty years.

Also on this day, there are numerous “culture festivals” around Japan.
I have been to many of them. Last year I wrote a post about a festival I attended on Culture Day. Click here to see that post…there are many photos and videos I took at the festival.

And some places around Tokyo will begin putting up their Christmas illumination and trees.
Tokyo Tower and some branches of the Mitsukoshi Department Store will have their giant Christmas tree up from today until Xmas day.

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day. The high temperature was only 16° Celcius.
Today is forecast to be a sunny day…but a little colder than yesterday (the high temp will be 15° C).

Weather forecast for Tokyo, Japan (2009 Nov 2-9)

アメヤ横丁

Yesterday was クリスマス (Christmas)…hope you had a  「メリー・クリスマス」 (“Merry Christmas“).
As we often do at Xmas, we had dinner at my wife’s parents’ house. My wife’s aunt and her siblings and their kids were all there too. So it was a big dinner with many people. It was alot of fun.

The day before that (Wednesday, December 24), we went to 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo).
We did alot of shopping in the アメヤ横丁 (Ameya-yokochou) area (or アメ横 (Ame-Yoko) for short).

This is an area that used to be a black market right after WW2, but now it rows of stores that sell everything from traditional Japanese snacks to leather jackets to book bags to jewelery to seafood to…whatever!

People who think that Tokyo is expensive often just don’t shop in the right places. アメヤ横丁 (Ameya-yokochou) is one of the many areas in Tokyo where you can buy all kinds of things at very reasonable prices.

Here are some photos that I took there:

Xmas time

It’s Christmas time…and Xmas is celebrated in Japan, but not to the extent that it is in Western countries.
In Japan, New Years is the biggest holiday. Actually, Xmas isn’t a legal holiday here…I mean, it’s a work day (unless it falls on the weekend).

Click here to read my short FAQ about Xmas in Japan. And click here to read my short FAQ about Japanese New Years.

In Japan, クリスマス (Christmas) is mainly for couples and families with children.
Couples often go on a date to look and クリスマス・イルミネーション (Xmas illumination).
(Click here to visit a website that shows many places around Japan to see クリスマス・イルミネーション (Xmas illumination). (That site’s in 日本語 (Japanese) only)).

And they may also go to 東京ディズニーリゾート (Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea) for the Disney Christmas event that they have there (of course, this is less popular with couples who aren’t in the Tokyo area).

Families with children may also go to 東京ディズニーリゾート (Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea), if they’re in this area.

But in Japan, most homes aren’t decorated for Xmas…especially uncommon are Christmas trees. Stores and shopping malls, on the other hand, are very decorated for Christmas from November until Xmas day (after that, the decorations quickly change to the more important New Years decorations).

In Japan, Santa Clause will leave presents near the pillows of young children in Japan on Christmas Eve. On average, Japanese children receive fewer Xmas presents than children in Western countries.

On Christmas Day, it’s popular for families to have a Christmas dinner. But it’s different from Xmas dinners in other countries.
When Japanese people think of Christmas dinner, most think of Kentucky Fried Chicken® and a strawberry poundcake that is called クリスマス・ケーキ (Christmas cake).

Kentucky Fried Chicken® started a campaign about thirty years ago at Christmastime by decorating their shops for the holiday and offering set meals advertised as American style Christmas dinners.
And now, on Christmas Day, Kentucky Fried Chicken® always has long lines outside their stores and their deliverymen are driving all around town on the Kentucky Fried Chicken® mopeds.

The KFC 「パーティ・バーレル」 (“Party Barrel“):

At Christmastime, KFC Japan even sells 1% alcohol bottles of “Christmas champagne”.

Kentucky Fried Chicken® isn’t the only ones busy at Christmas in Japan, cake shops have lines of customers buying the クリスマス・ケーキ (Christmas cakes):