Christmas in the Sky, Laputa

Japan is starting to get into “Christmas mode” as cities turn on beautiful illumination in parks and other public areas and couples start planning for that special date. Christmas is definitely seen as a special time for people in love, second only to Valentine’s Day, and sales of condoms grow around 8% this month. Naturally Christmas is much loved by children, who look forward to getting special presents from parents and grandparents. It’s also the season for anonymous gifts being left for orphans, which has become one of the nicer holiday traditions lately. Several days ago an anonymous person going by the name of Colonel Musuka (the villain of the Castle in the Sky Laputa film by Hayao Miyazaki) donated school backpacks and other gifts to a facility for disadvantaged children in Tokushima, Shikoku. He was following in the footsteps of other kind-hearted Japanese who have given gifts using pseudonyms like Tiger Mask (a popular pro wrestling manga from the 1970s) and even “Jason” of the Friday the 13th movie series. What a great tradition!(A note about Col. Muska. He’s become a meme generator in Japan, and literally every one of his quotes from the Miyazaki film are regularly incorporated into funny parody videos on Nicodouga and YouTube. Sadly the quotes aren’t as well known to fans outside Japan so the gags are hard to bring over. If you know Laputa and want some laughs, here’s a silly “Unreleased Laputa Edition” that I’ve spent many hours laughing over with my kids.)

“Christmas will live. It will return it to life! The power of Christmas is the dream of all children! “