Tis the Season

Although Christmas is celebrated in Japan, it is purely a commercial affair. It's estimated that less than 1% of the Japanese population is Christian, so every year I'm always surprised by the amount of Christmas decorations throughout the city. I guess this comes down to the fact the Japanese love festivals and celebrations... and Christmas just gives them the excuse to drink, buy presents, and spend time with loved ones.

Train display at the Hilton

December 25 is not a national holiday in Japan, so everyone still has work - but the holiday is still celebrated in a very commercial way. Christmas presents are usually exchanged between people in relationships, as well as close friends. Typical gifts are always "cute" (cute is important in Japan!) and include items such as teddy bears, flowers, candies, scarves, and jewelry. Below is a picture of a package of candy I bought (for myself!) - the wrapping was beautiful, but of course I opened it to show you how cute the candy was.

Christmas music plays in almost all stores, and you can even hear the popular tunes playing over the loudspeaker when you're walking down the street downtown. Christmas lights and elaborate displays are set up throughout the city, especially at major hotels and departments stores. The city is actually quite festive, and all of the displays and beautiful lights give me the comforting feeling of home. So even though we're half way across the world, the Christmas season here really reminds me of home.

The depressing part is that the city tears everything down on Christmas night. They must have employees working around the clock, because when you wake up on the 26th - everything is gone. It makes it feel like the holidays didn't even exist. It's a sad and empty feeling. And the feeling of home... gone.