Christmas in Japan (Kurisumatsu)

Japan has two official holidays during the second half of December. The first is the Day of the Emperor. The most important holiday is the Japanese New Year. But there's a third, Christmas, which has no official recognition.

Christmas has a significant number of followers, especially young or middle age Japanese born after the Second World War. They grew up under the cultural influences of the United States and Japan’s post-war economic boom.

But the Japanese Christmas has no traces of Christianity that we would recognize. Instead, it has more of a profane slant.

Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, is celebrated. The Japanese celebration of Christmas more closely approximates Valentine’s Day in the West. However, on the Japanese Valentine's Day they share more than the just 'choke' (chocolate). It’s a day to get together with your significant other and celebrate your relationship intimately.

The Japanese Christmas has three typical scenarios:

Starting at the beginning of December, store windows are full of every gift imaginable and even have Santa Claus and Nativity scenes. Dec 24 is also the only occasion on which the principle of gift-giving reciprocity is forgotten. Gift-givers are welcome to give as much as the heart and pocketbook desires. On Dec 24, these shops magically remove their Christmas decorations, replacing it with a New Year motif.

Restaurants add more tables-for-two, offering all sorts of tasty dishes and even Christmas specials on their menus. The prevailing atmosphere is one of privacy and reciprocity as gifts change hands. (There is no place for any confused bachelors wandering into these locations).

Hotels must be booked very far in advance, as double occupancy rooms are virtually unavailable.

Nearly 2% of Japanese are Christians who celebrate Christmas. This does not mean, however, that they are not Shinto-Buddhists, too. In this regard there is an anecdote. A tourist asks a Japanese man: How many Christians are there in Japan?. 2 million. How many Shinto? 127 million. And how many Buddhists? 127 million.