Christmas in Japan

Being Canadian we’re both used to a Christmas that is worlds apart from what we experienced here in Japan this year. At home, Christmas means presents, family, lots of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies, snow, cold… you get the idea. In Japan though, Christmas means different things. The family aspect is there to some extent, as are presents, but no turkey dinner, and no cold or snow (for us in Kumamoto anyway); Christmas in Japan is more of a couple’s day than anything else. It’s easy to forget, but Christmas is not a Japanese holiday, at all. It’s just another day for a lot of people.

In Japan, there is not a “traditional” dinner per se, but if there is one thing many people do eat it is Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) or ケンタッキ, weird right? We thought so too when we first heard about it, but we quickly got used to the idea. Instead of missing our traditional Canadian dinner we decided to embrace the Japanese Christmas and we had some KFC! It turns out Canadian KFC is pretty bad in comparison to Japanese KFC, so we were quite surprised! They also have a whole Christmas-themed menu for the season as well, it’s pretty great!

Also food related, and the Canadian equivalent of pie for dessert, is the Japanese Christmas Cake, although it certainly isn’t just eaten on Christmas Day, it’s available for the entire Christmas season!

In Japan Christmas cake or クリスマスケーキ is a huge deal. There are all kinds of shapes, sizes, flavours, etc. Pretty much everyone, at some point, will eat a Christmas cake, I know we had several!

Another huge Christmas tradition in Japan is lights. Many lights. This is known as illumination or イルミナシュン. This happens all over the place in varying degrees of complexity. Here’s a pic from downtown Kumamoto as an example of a simple, plain display.

In Canada, lights are put on buildings, houses, etc. in, usually, fairly simple and/or common ways. While this does happen in Japan

the main draw is something entirely different, and is what people think of if you mention イルミナシュン. It’s unlike anything we have seen or heard of in Canada. It’s easier to show pictures than explain in words, so have a look at the pictures at the link below!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3ufdg8ez2fe58r0/3skrdQKwOF

Pretty amazing right? This display is outside of Kumamoto city, and from what we’re told is one of the most famous in Japan, neat! It also requires a car to get there. We had to wait a good two hours to even get to the thing to see it there were so many people! It was SO worth it though! It’s one of the most amazing and beautiful things we've seen, and we’d highly recommend you check one out should you be in Japan during Christmas time and have one close to you.

Lastly, I just thought I’d throw in a picture of the Christmas party we had here at our dorm. It was filled with much fun, drink, food, and friends!

Merry Christmas and happy new year folks!