Merī kurisumasu from Japan! It’s pretty exciting to celebrate it in Japan with its unique Japanese Christmas traditions; alas, we decided to partake in it and enjoy Christmas the Japanese way.

Christmas in Japanese Culture

It only dawned on me that Christmas is not a public holiday here in Japan when I saw salarymen and women on the train this morning. Interestingly, even though only a fraction of them are Christian, it seems people here celebrate Christmas in their unique Japanese traditions.

Christmas Tree in Japan

The sight of illuminating lights all over Tokyo during winter nights is a Christmas treat. Decorations and Christmas trees were spotted everywhere, adding zest to the festivity.

Christmas Commercial

It fascinates me how commercialized Christmas is in Japan. Don’t get me wrong, I love it! Christmas commercials in Japan, with some of them featuring Santa-san, are joyful!

Christmas Date

It’s weird celebrating Christmas just the two of us when I am so used to celebrating it with my cousins or at least colleagues. Still, apparently, it’s a part of Japanese Christmas traditions to go on a date with your significant other on Christmas day.

Christmas Chicken

We participated in the most well-known Japanese Christmas tradition for our Christmas date: feasting on KFC fried chicken. It’s a tradition that has been rooted in Japanese culture for decades now, thanks to the power of advertisement. And as expected, even junk food tastes so much better here in Japan.

Christmas Cake

Japanese Christmas traditions are also heavily surrounded by delicious cakes, with the Strawberry Shortcake being the most iconic one.

Christmas Market

I was so excited to stumble upon an open-air European-style Christmas market at Hibiya Park, Tokyo. Even though it was too crowded for our liking, I managed to gulp a glass or two of my favourite gluhwein.

I hope you’re celebrating Christmas the way you enjoy the most, either with extended family and friends, volunteering somewhere, or just you in comfy PJs and Netflix.

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