My First Christmas in Japan
It has been about ten months since I first arrived in my new home, and so this year was my first Christmas in Japan.
Back in the UK at this time of year I would have enjoyed a get-together with my family.
My parents, sister and her husband and son would all gather at either my house or my parents house for a traditional Christmas dinner and gift giving ceremony.
But now I am in Japan, my family back in the UK, and this is the first year where I would not be joining them.
So here is my post about my first Christmas in Japan, the similarities and the differences.
Christmas In Japan
Christmas in Japan is a little bit different to what I grew up with in the UK. Rather than it being a time for religious celebration and/or family gatherings, in Japan it is considered to be a time for couples.
It is hard to miss the Christmas aesthetic that the Japanese seem to have adopted rather accurately, as walking into any department store or supermarket will surely remind one of the similar displays back in the West. Christmas trees, Santa Claus, wooden toys, and chocolates, chocolates, and more chocolates are abundant… But there are also some rather striking differences.
First of all is the above mentioned couples over family thing. In Japan, the end of year and new year celebrations are the main family event for this time of year. Families will often get together at new years, enjoy a feast and proceed to their local shrine or temple for “hatsumode” literally “first prayer”. Furthermore as Christmas is not a recognised national holiday, most people are still at work on Christmas day, therefore the Christmas holiday has never really taken off here as being a time for family.
The second major difference is the traditional foods eaten at Christmas, most notably…. KFC! Yes, that’s right… KFC!
I believe it is due to a marketing campaign by KFC, who noticed a gap in the market when Japan first became influenced by Western customs. There was no established traditional festive meal and so they (KFC) managed to present themselves as the go-to meal for the couples wishing to celebrate Christmas.
In-fact KFC has become such a popular choice at this time of year that many people will actually book their meal to secure their chicken fix during this extra busy time.
KFC is not the only difference… For those who enjoy a traditional rum soaked and spiced fruits Christmas pudding, you might be surprised to learn that the desert of choice here is a light and delicate strawberry and cream layered sponge cake.
So the “traditional” Christmas dinner here in Japan is KFC chicken followed by a strawberry and cream sponge cake.
What We Did
My wife is Japanese, so we could have easily done the couples KFC thing… But with her interest in all things British, and having never experienced Christmas from a Western perspective, we decided to do our best to recreate it here.
So my wife booked the day of the 25th off work.
We bought a Christmas tree, albeit a significantly smaller one than most Western homes would have, space in Japanese apartments is at a premium after-all, plus we would need to store it for 11 months out of 12.
We bought and wrapped gifts for each other.
We visited the Tokyo Christmas Market, enjoyed mulled wine, snacks and bought a delicious spiced rum and ginger Christmas pudding from one of the European stalls.
I cooked a Christmas dinner which was as close to the British style as I could manage here for us both to enjoy.
We had roast chicken, roast beef, roast potatoes, mixed veg, stuffing, “pigs in blankets” and gravy.
I managed to replicate most of what I would typically cook for Christmas dinner back in the UK, however I struggled to find raw sausages and bacon here.
Most Japanese supermarkets only sell pre-cooked sausages and bacon, and the flavour is a little different, but still nice!
I could only find American style stuffing and gravy, but again it was still delicious!
And for desert we had the spiced rum and ginger pudding, purchased at the Christmas Market!
All in all, I think I pulled it off… Despite the tiny kitchen and microwave oven (Japanese kitchens don’t usually have a full size oven).
Christmas Around the World
All around the world people celebrate Christmas in their own way.
Different cultures have different approaches to food and customs, and what is important to one family may be very different to the next family.
This year we tried to do the Western thing so my wife could open her first Christmas present, and have her first ever Christmas dinner, at home with the tree and experience something new.
Perhaps next year we will do the Japanese thing and have a KFC, who knows!
However you celebrate this time of year, if you do, I hope you had a wonderful time and I wish you all the best for the new year!
Thank you for reading!
