Well Christmas is here, and soon children all over the world will be nestled all snug in their beds, probably unsure of what a “sugar-plum” is but not caring as they wait to hear reindeer hooves on the roof. What does Christmas mean to you? For me it means having a special dinner with the family followed by the annual viewing of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and maybe listening to some Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs while opening presents. I join the entire staff of J-List in wishing you the best Christmas ever!Christmas in Japan, of course, is very different from in other parts of the world. Like Valentine’s Day, Christmas is a fun custom imported from the West that exists largely because department stores realized it was a good way for them to sell stuff. Even the Japanese tradition of eating “Christmas cake” on New Year’s Eve came about through a clever marketing campaign by the Fujiya Confectionery Company, which decided to adopt the British custom of Christmas cakes to Japan in 1922, though the Japanese version is usually sponge cake with whipped cream and strawberries rather than fruitcake. Although Japanese love Christmas, they sometimes don’t seem to “get” the holiday in the same way most of us do in the West, as seen by their custom of playing Christmas music through February or so. It’s still cold out, they reason, so why not listen to Jingle Bells one more time?
Best wishes for a very merry and moe Christmas, from all of us at J-List!
