The True Meaning of Japanese Christmas

Above, the Wako Department Store in Ginza adorned in Christmas lighting. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For a country that only has a 1 or 2% Christian population (depending on who collected the data), Japan isn't a slouch in putting up Christmas decorations in shopping districts and elsewhere.

RocketNews24 has an interesting article on "The True Meaning of Japanese Christmas." The meaning of Christmas to the Japanese is sure different than what Christian nations are accustomed to.

They begin with:

It’s December again in Japan, and that means that Christmas trees are sprouting up outside store fronts while festive advertisements of cakes adorn the trains and convenience stores across the land. The usual mercilessly repetitive jingles that fill department stores and supermarkets are replaced with mercilessly repetitive carols for this one special month. 

However, not everyone can share in the festive joy of a Japanese Christmas filled with hallowed traditions such as fried chicken and bowling. Christmas in Japan is also a day for lovers, and as of 2011 it was estimated that over 60% of young men and women would be single for the holidays and that number certainly hasn’t appeared to have changed recently. 

All this lonesomeness and misery brought about annually begs the question: “Who the hell made Christmas a romantic holiday in Japan anyway?!” RocketNews24 Japan investigated.

Looks like the way to celebrate Christmas in Japan is to get your favorite girl (or man, if you are a woman) and head off to the local love hotel with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, perhaps? Or, go bowling.

To read the full article, go here.