“The most wonderful time of the year” is rapidly approaching, which means it’s time to break out all our beloved and unique Christmas traditions from years past — caroling, cookie decorating, fighting about the election with whatever relatives you’re still speaking to after fighting about the election over Thanksgiving. Joy to the world, indeed!
Jokes aside, most of us have our tried-and-true ways of celebrating the holiday season each year. Yet, sometimes it can start to feel a bit stale. If you’re looking for ways to mix it up, why not look towards “the land of the rising sun”?
Here are 5 unique ways to celebrate Christmas like they do in Japan.
Yes, you heard it right, they actually do celebrate Christmas in Japan. Most of the world does, in fact, albeit in very different ways than the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and other predominantly Christian countries.
In many of these countries, Christmas celebrations are more about emulating American Christmas culture, and Japan definitely follows suit — the decorations alone put many American cities to shame!
But Japan also merges Christmas customs with local culture, putting a unique spin on the holiday that in some ways goes against the grain of the runaway consumerism of the American Christmas season.
The Japan travel experts at Japan Rail Pass compiled a list of Japan’s five most unique Christmas traditions that just might be worth adopting this year.
1. Fried chicken for Christmas dinner — KFC, anyone?
This is probably Japan’s most unique tradition. Over there, it’s not about turkey, ham, or even a roast goose. It’s all about one of the most quintessentially American dishes — fried chicken.
Fried chicken is such a huge Yuletide tradition in Japan that KFC has special meal deals for the holiday, complete with festively decorated chicken buckets. The period from Dec 23 to 25 reportedly accounts for a full third of the company’s Japanese sales each year.
It all began back in the 1970s when the company launched a marketing campaign called “Kentucky for Christmas” (or “Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii” in Japanese). Some 50 years later, it’s now an institution — so much so that the lines to pick up your pre-ordered KFC Christmas feast can stretch for hours.
2. Christmas Cake (but don’t worry, not the fruitcake kind)
Christmas cakes are a long-running tradition in both the U.S. and Europe, from the Italian panettone to France’s bûche de Noël and, of course, to the undisputed worst one of them all, American fruitcake (which actually came to us via the British — which really explains a lot).
Japan is no exception, but thankfully, their cake sounds out of this world, unlike the brick doorstop full of weird dried cherries like our fruitcake. Rather, the Japanese whip up a fluffy sponge cake with layers of whipped cream and strawberries, the colors of which are an allusion to the Japanese flag.
It also has a symbolism to it — it’s said to bring prosperity due to the fact that the ingredients for cake were once considered delicacies only available to the rich. The cake even used to be a status symbol in years past. But now it’s meant as a yearly indulgence to be shared with friends and loved ones.
3. Christmas Eve is for lovers
While Christmas Eve is hugely important in many Western countries, both as a religious holiday and, of course, the night that Santa Claus comes to many parts of the world, it’s not given quite the same priority in Japan — unless you’re in love, that is.
For Japanese people, Christmas Eve is more like Valentine’s Day, a day couples celebrate by exchanging gifts, going out for fancy dinners, and, of course, walking through colorful light displays in places like Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills and Shibuya.
And, just like Valentine’s Day elsewhere, you better be sure to book ahead — Christmas Eve is one of the busiest nights of the year for hotels and restaurants, which book up weeks in advance.
4. Speaking of lights, Christmastime is all about light in Japan
Europeans, and especially Americans, love their Christmas lights, but Japan has us beat by a mile. For starters, when it comes to Christmas light displays, Japan goes all out in ways that make even the most over-the-top American cities look like child’s play!
cowardlion | Shutterstock
Take, for instance, The Kingdom of Light in Nagasaki, which boasts a staggering 13 million lights, including an LED waterfall, light-and-flower displays set to music, and light-viewing canal cruises — because get this: The whole thing is held at Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park that celebrates all things Dutch with windmills, building replicas and, yes, canals, just like Amsterdam.
On the more heartfelt side, there’s Kobe’s Luminaire, which is not just a celebration of the holiday season but also a yearly memorial to those lost in the catastrophic earthquake of 1995 that draws more than 3 million visitors every year.
5. Joya no Kane, the Buddhist way to ring in the New Year.
The Japanese Christmas celebration extends to New Year’s Eve as well with the Buddhist tradition of ‘Joya no Kane,’ when temples ring their bells 108 times to ward off the 108 earthly desires Japanese Buddhists believe cause human suffering.
It’s a way for everyone to enter the new year on the right foot with a clean slate ready to be filled with blessings — a tradition that sometimes begins with visits to temples and shrines on Christmas Day.
Fried chicken, strawberry cake, and a forward-looking, positive approach to the new year? Sounds like the perfect way to celebrate the season — and a great excuse to avoid that fruitcake your great aunt insists on bringing every year.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
