Christmas in Japan is strange. As foreigners living in Japan, we often comment or make jokes about the misinterpretation of holidays.
But, unfortunately, there is nothing funny about this. Christmas in America is becoming what Christmas in Japan already is- a hollow, commercial holiday. Christmas has been interpreted as a day of giving gifts and getting lucky.
No family.
No Jesus.
I’m not sure if many Japanese people are even aware that Christmas is (used to be?) a religious day. Even with the continued secularization of Christmas in the US, the day still holds a sense of sacredness. There are traditions, stories, and values on Christmas, even for the secular. Family time. Not working. Giving to the poor.
I hope that this lack of depth in Japanese Christmas reflects the novelty of the holiday- and not shallowness. Much like Halloween, I get the feeling that Christmas is an infant holiday, growing at a rapid rate. I want to see the identity of this day grow.
On another note, I was Santa Clause the other day for Elementary School. I was partially sickened, partially angered.
“Do you want me to speak Japanese to the children?”
“No! Santa Clause speaks English!”
I am afraid that Japanese children are learning that Christmas is an American (not Christian) holiday when a fat, white, monolingual man brings people presents. I told a friend that they should make Santa a Japanese man in Japan, and he should speak Japanese.
“But can you really picture Father Christmas as a Japanese man?” he asked.
“They have black Jesuses in Africa,” I replied. “Why not?”
Even the Japanese saying of “Merry Christmas” upsets me. Japan needs to have it own (Japanese) phrase for Christmas.