Christmastime in Tokyo

Last weekend, we headed into Tokyo to see some Christmas lights! The LED Christmas illuminations in Japan have gained popularity in recent years, some receiving so many visitors that they’ve had to extend their time frame all the way through February!

History Lesson

Christmas isn’t as big of a deal in Japan as it is in the States, with Christmas only becoming widely celebrated in recent years. With the roots of Christmas stemming from the birth of Jesus and the Christian religion, it’s no wonder that Christmas has taken awhile to catch on! Today, less than 1% of the Japanese population belongs to the Christian faith. Hints of Christmas have appeared and disappeared throughout the last few hundred years, with a Jesuit missionary first introducing the holiday in 1549. However, Christianity was banned soon after and religious freedom was not reinstated until the late 1800s. The popularity of Christmas again died out during WWII, with the holiday being heavily associated with Americans.

Santa is Back!

Lucky for us, Christmas has made its comeback in Japan over the last few decades! Although you may see advertisements for Christmas gifts in the store windows, pass by illuminated Christmas trees and happen upon a Christmas market, Christmas is much different than at home. For starters, everybody still goes to work, it’s not about family time, and it’s not one bit religious! More focus is placed on Christmas Eve than on the day itself, with couples treating it much as we would treat Valentine’s Day back home. Romantic dinners, small intimate gifts, and bottles of champagne characterize Christmas Eve celebrations in Japan.

We’re on American soil here on base though, so you’ll still find us unwrapping presents Christmas morning, enjoying K’s time off of work, and having some good ol’ family time as the newly established Corpus family!

KFC Christmas Dinner?! 

Although there are a variety of Japanese Christmas traditions that wouldn’t quite fit into an American Christmas, the one I find most interesting is eating KFC on Christmas. KFC is so popular on Christmas Day that reservations have to be made months in advance! After a bit of digging I found out that in the early 70s, a group of tourists were wandering around trying to find a place to eat turkey for their Christmas dinner. They didn’t have much luck and settled for fried chicken instead. When corporate KFC caught wind of this, they decided to launch a marketing campaign based around this: “Kentucky for Christmas!” Surprisingly, it caught on and the whole country seems to have adopted this as the national Christmas meal. Fried chicken and wine anyone? It’s Christmas!

Finding vegetarian friendly dishes can sometimes prove a difficult task, especially when you’re craving something specific! With cloudy weather and temperatures in the low 50s, I really just wanted some hot ramen. However, every ramen shop we passed had pictures of pork on top of their ramen. After wandering around hungrily, we happened across a small noodle shop that had simple udon noodle soup. Even better, there was an option that had sliced tofu on top! The language barrier is always fun to deal with when you’re eating out (usually consists of us bowing repeatedly and saying “hai” (yes) over and over while hoping that we’re not agreeing to anything crazy!)

After grabbing dinner, we headed to Roppongi Hills. A popular shopping destination in Tokyo, the surrounding area around the mall has also been voted one of the top illuminations in the city.

When we first walked behind the mall where the main illumination was, the lights on the trees were all orange. However, within a few minutes, they all morphed into beautiful white and blue lights. Although we didn’t think anything of it at the time, we later found out that they only do this light change twice per hour. We walked up just at the right time!

With the Tokyo tower in the background, it made for such a magical moment. As soon as the crosswalk blinked in our favor, dozens of pedestrians darted out into the street and stood there snapping pictures. When the light blinked red again, policemen stood by to move the crowd back onto the sidewalk.

With the combination of warm weather, being overseas, and being far from family, it doesn’t really seem like Christmas is right around corner. However, going out on a cold night to see Christmas lights made the upcoming holidays seem much closer and more realistic! Anyways, what’s the point of it feeling like an American Christmas when we’re living in Japan?

Merry Christmas to you all from Tokyo!