Christmas in Japan

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Merry late Christmas, everyone! I know it's almost a month late, but I did some research on what Christmas is like in Japan, and wanted to share some of the most interesting information I found.
What's Christmas like in Japan, and what relevance does it have to Japanese culture?
Image result for christmas japan

Christmas in Japan「日本のクリスマス」

Christmas Day


Japan is mostly Shinto/Buddhist, so Christianity doesn't have much of an influence. This means that Christmas doesn't have much religious or cultural meaning. It's more of a consumerist holiday, similar to New Years in the U.S. (and unlike New Years in Japan). Many consumerist traditions were brought to Japan from U.S. and other foreign companies.

Image result for christmas cake japanChristmas Cakes 「クリスマスケーキ」are extremely popular. They're generally sponge cakes decorated with strawberries and whipped cream.

Tokyo Disneyland's "Christmas Fantasy" is very popular, especially for families with young children. The entire park is decorated themed to "a storybook filled with the Christmas fun of the Disney friends".

Christmas Eve is a romantic day for couples to spend together and exchange presents. It doesn't have much emphasis on family.

Kentucky Fried Christmas 

Kentucky Fried Chicken was one of the first major companies to associate their product with Christmas in Japan, with their highly successful 1974 "Kentucky for Christmas!" 「クリスマスにはケンタッキー」campaign.
Because of this, KFC is the go-to food for Christmas Day - with about 3.6 million families eating KFC on Christmas Day alone per year.
Special Christmas sets must be ordered weeks in advance. Local KFCs to go in overdrive preparing orders. If someone doesn't order in advance, they might have to wait hours in line just to get their Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Day.

Image result for kfc japan christmasBecause of Japan's lack of Christian influence, and therefore, lack of religious weight with Christmas, it doesn't make sense for families to work hours on Christmas day just to make a delicious family meal. It's a lot easier to just order a bucket of fried chicken and eat it as a family - which is one of the reasons KFC is so popular.
Think about New Years' Day - most families don't make elaborate home-cooked meals. You can think of our Christmas as Japan's New Years and our New Years as Japan's Christmas in terms of cultural and religious importance.


Have you ever had KFC on Christmas before? What surprised you most about Japanese Christmas? Let me know below!

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