Thursday is Thanksgiving, the second most important American holiday, a day for spending time with family and friends and giving thanks for what we have. While I love the holiday as an American, the reality is that it can be difficult to get into the proper Thanksgiving spirit while living in a foreign country. Not only do the Japanese have almost zero awareness of turkey as a food category (though you can find small frozen turkeys at some import supermarkets), but Japanese kitchens almost never have ovens suitable for doing proper baking in. Most of the other famous icons of Turkey Day, such as cranberry sauce or stuffing, are also difficult to find, although after I finish this update I’m going over to Costco and score me a pumpkin pie if they still have them in stock. What most Americans in Japan do on Thanksgiving is to take the path of least resistance and get a bucket of KFC, which is kind of sort of similar to Turkey with all the trimmings. Anyway, we’d like to wish everyone in the U.S. a warm and happy holiday tomorrow! And if being around your family becomes too painful, feel free to duck out and come surf the J-List site instead.
Thanksgiving in Japan is a bit different from back home.
