Christmas in Japan

Christmas seems to be widely celebrated in Japan, but not so much as a religious holiday. Instead, it seems to be a sort of commercial holiday for most people, and everyone celebrates with either their family or their significant other.

It's traditional to celebrate Christmas with Christmas dinner and Christmas cake. Okaasan told me that Christmas dinner usually includes chicken, not ham, like what people in the U.S. are used to. My host family ate Christmas dinner a day or two early, on the 23rd. She made oven-roasted chicken for dinner, and she picked a delicious chocolate raspberry mousse cake for dessert. People sometimes give Christmas presents, but instead of a whole slew of presents under a Christmas tree, my host family had a small tree in the corner of the living room, and Okaasan gave the children each one present.

The following day I went to a German Christmas market that is set up each year in a certain area of Osaka. The market had a huge Christmas tree in the center, and when the sun set the tree was lit up. There were little booths set up around the perimeter of the square, where people sold souvenirs or food. There was also live music, mostly singing, all afternoon and evening. After the Christmas tree was lit up, I went to the top of a nearby building, rode the elevator up to the 40th floor, and saw the Osaka skyline all lit up at night. I ended the evening by going out to dinner in Sannomiya.