Christmas
Since I'm talking about especial dates that are not official holidays, I'll go back a little and talk about Christmas.
Christianism is far from being Japan's main religion, but they celebrate Christmas... in a different way. I've heard sometimes in Brazil that "Xmas is losing it's original meaning (that I guess is celebrate Christ birth and unite people) and becoming too commercial"... They don't know Japan.
Here it's really a mainly commercial event. There's some focus about presents, and, although the union meaning is mentioned, it's not that important here. The media works on it extensively. (It was annoying to hear every single day the music "Christmas Time" outside Starbucks.) Another thing is that asking for a date on Xmas Eve is a sign of real interest... or something like. So, like Valentine's, Xmas is somewhat dedicated to couples.
One interesting experience was when I was invited to watch a "Xmas Concert" to some kids. One of the events was telling a story to the kids. So... what kind of story? Christ, the Three Magi and all? Not here. It was some kind of "Three Little Pigs - Xmas party version" where the pigs are going to do a Xmas party, but the wolf want to eat the pigs... he ends up sick, is helped by the pigs and helps them in the end. Strange, but interesting.
On the other hand, New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. That's for another post, but it's like the "values" of these holidays were reversed in Brazil and in Japan.
As I said before, I spend my Xmas in Nikko. It's in my backlog and I'll post about it someday...
Christianism is far from being Japan's main religion, but they celebrate Christmas... in a different way. I've heard sometimes in Brazil that "Xmas is losing it's original meaning (that I guess is celebrate Christ birth and unite people) and becoming too commercial"... They don't know Japan.
Here it's really a mainly commercial event. There's some focus about presents, and, although the union meaning is mentioned, it's not that important here. The media works on it extensively. (It was annoying to hear every single day the music "Christmas Time" outside Starbucks.) Another thing is that asking for a date on Xmas Eve is a sign of real interest... or something like. So, like Valentine's, Xmas is somewhat dedicated to couples.
One interesting experience was when I was invited to watch a "Xmas Concert" to some kids. One of the events was telling a story to the kids. So... what kind of story? Christ, the Three Magi and all? Not here. It was some kind of "Three Little Pigs - Xmas party version" where the pigs are going to do a Xmas party, but the wolf want to eat the pigs... he ends up sick, is helped by the pigs and helps them in the end. Strange, but interesting.
On the other hand, New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. That's for another post, but it's like the "values" of these holidays were reversed in Brazil and in Japan.
As I said before, I spend my Xmas in Nikko. It's in my backlog and I'll post about it someday...
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