It's Christmas Time. . . Even in Japan

With Christmas only days away I am sure that many of you are busily scurrying around checking off all the items on your last minute agenda that you had the best intentions of finishing a month ago. I wish you luck!

In fifteen minutes I will be out the door and on my way to the Kagoshima Airport. I will spend Christmas in Tokyo, Yamanashi, and Nagano. I am looking forward to spending Christmas in Japan this year as it will be my first - It should be a good time.

Christmas in Japan on the outside is just as Commercial and Christmas in the Western world. There are Holiday songs playing over every speaker in every store, Japanese Santa’s waiting to take their picture with crying babies, and “illumination” or Christmas lights all over the place. Even in the southern backcountry of Nagashima do people enjoy this Holiday season. However, a large majority of people in Japan aren’t really sure what Christmas is all about. Even though less than one percent of Japanese poeple consider themselves to be Christian it is not rare for families and couples to celebrate Christmas. When asking my students why it is that Christmas is celebrated I get answers like, “It’s Santa’s birthday,” “It’s the day Santa died,” and “Because it snows.” When asking adults what Christmas is all about, I don’t get answers as far fetched as the little kiddies, but still often times they just don’t have it straight as to why Christmas is actually celebrated.

At first, I thought that Christmas this year, well, wouldn’t fell like Christmas at all, but then my mindset changed. As I started teaching classes about Christmas, telling co-workers that the “Christ” in Christmas stands for Jesus Christ, and even singing Christmas carols with other JET teachers in a busy shopping mall in Kagoshima I realized that, perhaps, this year more than any other year should it feel like Christmas for me. I realized that I am, for a lack of better words and time to think about better words, “The Christmas Ambassador.” It is my responsibility as the foreigner on the island to teach the Japanese about the world outside of their country. To think that because of a chat in the office during tea time or a Christmas game in the classroom that someone in Nagashima now really knows the true meaning of Christmas is amazing and this is better than any gift that I may receive this year.

Wherever you are this year I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I will post again after the holidays. Relax, enjoy this time with friends and family, and remember that Christmas isn’t just about lights, gifts, and Christmas cake, ( if you live in Japan) It’s so much more.

From christmas time

From holiday with ...

cards