How to celebrate a Japanese style Christmas
In Japan Christmas is celebrated more as a holiday period full of fun and frolic; therefore, to celebrate a Japanese style Christmas you must be prepared for the unconventional. Since the official religion of Japan is Buddhism, Christmas is celebrated just for the fun of it and for its commercial value. This is not to say that Japanese people treat the festival lightly and forget its religious connotation but that it is more an occasion to emulate the West than anything else. The way to celebrate a Japanese Christmas is to let your hair down and allow yourself to have absolute fun with friends and family.
A few suggestions
- Give presents to each other and to all your family members. Generally small Japanese children are not expected to give presents to their parents so abide by this custom.
- Get a Christmas tree and decorate it in the usual Western style with ornaments and ribbons etc. You can also put lighting in the front yard and the porch just like in the West and even hang mistletoe in your doorway. You can even get just one tree for the whole neighborhood since this is the norm in Japan.
- Go carol singing with your friends on Christmas Eve and be concerned with having total and absolute fun.
- Prepare a Christmas dinner (with turkey and mashed potatoes) that is reminiscent of an American Christmas dinner but add a few traditional Japanese dishes for variety and fun.
- Ideally, spend your day with the less fortunate, in the orphanage or a hospital among the inmates, and share your good fortune and your food with them.
Do’s
- Remember that the main celebration revolves around Christmas Eve and not the Christmas day itself.
Don’ts
- Don’t try to copy everything Japanese because you will end up not having any fun.