Holidays

It is early Christmas morning here in Japan. A clear, cold day that indicates Santa had no trouble getting around to all the houses last night. Santa may have been busy but I got the first good night's sleep in a week.

Christmas here in Japan is a non-religious, festive occasion that is quite popular. Although I have no data to back up the statement, my students lead me to believe that the most popular Christmas activity is a date at a good restaurant, at least with the singles crowd. Many people have a Christmas cake, basically a sponge cake covered with whipped cream and strawberries and supplemented with Christmas decorations. Most Japanese think that this is an American tradition and are amazed when I tell them that I had never seen a cake like this until I came to Japan.

There are decorations around town, especially in the stores, and some people put lights on their houses. A house only a hundred meters from here is all lit up and quite pretty. I will try to get out and take a picture of it tonight.

Some people exchange presents or give them to children and students frequently have parties, although it is hard to distinguish such parties from the traditional year-end parties that almost all groups are having during December.

The shopping arcades have been playing Christmas music for more than a month and the radio has a high percentage of carols.

Merry Christmas