Christmas, as it’s celebrated in America, is definitely a Western custom. The shopping season leading up to this most generous of holidays starts in the States the day after Thanksgiving: Black Friday. We Americans have a proud tradition of getting up at 3:30a.m.on Black Friday to shove lil’ old ladies down in the way of a $750 flat screen HD TV. Tis’ the season!
We also have a noble heritage when it comes to decorating our yards with giant inflatable reindeer and blinding displays of seizure-inducing lights. And what would Christmas be without the endless parade of obligatory work-related and family Christmas parties? Let’s not forget about the hours upon hours spent in the kitchen pouring over cookie cookbooks and rolling out endless varieties of Christmas confections. And for what? To give cookies and bon-bons away to people who will hate you for blowing their diet.
Since everyone in the US is familiar with what goes on here-and I know you are- why don’t we look at how Japan handles this time of year. Is their holiday season anywhere near as hectic as ours? Do they even celebrate Christmas? New Year’s Eve? The answers to that are no, somewhat and yes, and how.
Japan does celebrate Christmas, just not with the fervor and extreme enthusiasm as over here. The beginning of their shopping season coincides with ours; the day after Thanksgiving, sans blood-letting. They do have Christmas carols, in English, and they do exchange gifts.
However, the focus of gift giving is mainly directed between couples. This is a romantic night for couples, and is seen as a night when magic can happen. For someone to be single on Christmas in Japan is almost as bad as someone being single on Valentine’s Day in the US. The analogy of Christmas in Japan being like Valentine’s Day in America isn’t far-off. The gifts exchanged on both days are similar; teddy bears, jewelry, roses, personal gifts, etc.
Instead of a Christmas dinner consisting of a ham, goose, or turkey, a Christmas cake is standard fare in Japan. Every household tries to buy a Christmas cake before Christmas Eve to celebrate the season. These cakes are pretty things topped with fresh fruit arranged artfully on a frosted cake.
Bakeries do a booming business with Christmas cakes, up until the 24th, and then they discount their cakes on the 25th to get rid of ‘em. There’s a horrible analogy comparing marriageable women to Christmas cakes: Both are good until the 25th, then it’s hard to get rid of them, i.e. it’s difficult to marry a girl off after they’re 25 years old.
The Christmas tree does exist in Japan, but it doesn’t have nearly the prominence as it does in the West. Instead, pine trees, are more apropos for the Japanese New Year- a holiday much, much larger and more important in Japan than Christmas.
Traditionally speaking, New Year’s in Japan, shogatsu, is a time to give thanks to everything and everyone that helped make the previous year a good one.
Doorways are adorned on either side with twin kadomatsu, decorations made from pine branches, bamboo, and straw. The pine is a symbol of longevity and the bamboo represents prosperity. Other decorations adorn households, including kagami mochi. Kagami mochi is a large stack of two mochi cakes topped with a mikan (orange). These displays are meant to attract luck into the household.
Mass mailings of New Year’s post cards, nengajÅ, similar to our mass mailings of Christmas cards, flood post offices the days before New Year’s. Everyone writes to their friends and family to inform them of what’s passed in the former year, much like the American practice of stuffing annoying family newsletters into Christmas cards.
The following days of New Year’s are filled with “firsts”: HatsumÅde, first prayer at a shrine; Hatsuhinode, first sunrise and Hatsuyume, first dream. During the first visit to a shrine, people will dress in kimono and line up to pray and to purchase good luck talismans for the new year. The first dream of the New Year’s is a special one as it’s believed to portend what will come in the following year. The first food and drink of New Year’s has traditionally been toso or sake and ozoni.
During the first three days of New Years, no one works if they have the choice. The food has already been prepared, the gifts have been bought, the cards have been sent, and the house and streets are cleaned. People sit back, relax and enjoy themselves for three work-free days.
Our holidays may not be celebrated the same way they are in Japan, since Christmas is a Western import. However, we also consider New Year’s Day a time to relax, a time to reflect on the past year and to draw up resolutions for the upcoming one.
We haven’t imported any Japanese holidays of yet, but let’s allow some of Japan’s New Year’s traditions rub off on us: Going into this holiday season, let’s try to relax and be thankful that we survived the past year and grateful we’re here to celebrate the next.
Images copyright:
Japanese Santa
Christmas Cakes
Kagami mochi
Kadomatsu
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