Christmas is a happy time in Japan, when couples can exchange gifts or maybe plan a special evening together, and children can look forward to a visit from the most famous gaijin of them all, “Santa-san.” It’s also the season for kuri-pa, or Christmas Parties, and various groups will organize get-togethers complete with funny hats, noise-makers and firecrackers that shoot paper streamers into the air, making them appear closer to December 31st in some ways than Christmas, at least to my eyes. Over the weekend I attended a Christmas Concert at my son’s school, and there was a small Christmas party afterwards for the students and parents. They’d prepared a real feast, too, with all manner of Japanese snack foods from Pocky to Kit Kat to these little snowman cookies that looked delicious. Unfortunately there was no teacher present to tell people it was okay to start the festivities, so everyone mulled around pretending they weren’t surrounded by tables of delicious snacks, despite being hungry and thirsty after the long musical performance. It was a good example of the Japanese concept of enryo (ehn-ryoh), which means to show restraint or discretion in social situations, and I felt sorry for everyone there as I secretly filled my pockets with munchies.
When Christmas draws near, it’s time for a Christmas Party with friends.
