Christmas Culture in Japan

As you all know Christmas is not a holiday in the Japanese religion or traditions. December 24 to 26 are regular workdays and I assume that most Japanese people won’t take vacation days on these dates.

Nevertheless, Christmas has recently become rather important in Japanese culture. Families celebrate Christmas with their children and buy Christmas cakes and fried chicken. Couples see Christmas as an opportunity, or obligation depending on how you look at it, to spend quality time together.

You can’t be alone on Christmas

There is the slang term “kuri-bocchi” in Japanese that describes someone who is alone at Christmas. It has a rather negative connotation and implies that being alone, as in not being in a relationship, at Christmas does not conform with the social norm.

The idea of spending Christmas alone is so terrifying for some that they desperately start looking for a partner as Christmas is getting closer and start relationships that didn’t really work well, to begin with, and only last for a few weeks or months. On the Internet, you can find websites with advice on how not to end up alone over Christmas or which places you should avoid if you do end up alone at Christmas.

Restaurants and hotels in Japan also cater to this idea by offering romantic Christmas dinners and experiences. I usually don’t spend Christmas in Japan but last year I couldn’t go home over Christmas due to the pandemic, so my partner and I celebrated in Japan and attended a Christmas dinner. Most other attendees were couples as well.

As for me, Christmas is a holiday you spend with your family and the thought of spending it alone is indeed sad as it might imply that you lost your family or didn’t have one in the first place. But not having a partner at the time of Christmas is rather irrelevant in my opinion. If you don’t have a partner, you might as well spend Christmas with friends or spend it alone watching bad Christmas movies and enjoying your fried chicken.

When you have to work over Christmas it might not even be possible to do much in the evening if the following day is a working day as well. As Christmas is not a Japanese holiday but rather was imported from the western tradition, I find it interesting that apparently, it is rather important how you spend Christmas for the Japanese.

Christmas is everywhere

But Christmas has invaded other aspects of Japanese culture as well. Once it turns December you can find Christmas decorations everywhere. In some areas, there is a special Christmas illumination, in several places in Tokyo you can find Christmas markets and theme parks like Disney Land and the Universal Studio also have special Christmas events and parades.

If you go to the supermarket or convenience store you can find posters advertising the Christmas cakes and fried chicken plates that are open for reservation and all sorts of snacks and sweets and being sold in a Christmas-themed package as well.

In the bigger malls, there are Christmas decorations and huge Christmas trees and of course, the obligatory Last Christmas coming from the speakers is not missing. You can hardly escape the Christmas spirit.

Gift-giving in Japan

One aspect that has not yet reached Japan is the gift-giving madness. Some of the couples that spend Christmas together probably will give each other gifts, but it is not as common. In German e.g., it is common practice that you get presents for all your relatives and friends. A lot of companies also give gifts to their employees. I find buying all the gifts rather bothersome and usually don’t know what I should get so I probably end up getting a lot of things the receiver does not really need, so I am glad that this has not yet reached Japan.

I also tend to receive a lot of Christmas presents I don’t really need and throw away a few years later which is kind of a waste of money and resources.

In Japan, there is a gift-giving custom called “O-seibo” which happens in December. But this is more a business scene custom. Companies will send gifts to business partners to thank them for the business. Usually, these gifts are gift sets with consumables like coffee, snacks, and drinks and if you send them to a larger office some employees will always accept them happily. So, these don’t go to waste.

Another gift-giving tradition in Japan is called “Otoshidama”. This is the custom of giving children small amounts of money to children on New Year’s Day. In my culture giving money or gift cards is considered as not very thoughtful but I find it better than giving someone something they probably don’t need just because gift-giving is a custom.

What do you think about the Japanese Christmas culture? Are you annoyed or do you enjoy the atmosphere? Do even celebrate Christmas when in Japan?