Japanese Christmas

 

1920s Santa is in a rush in his wacky polka-dot-pjs! Thumbs up!

Well, it's the day before Thanksgiving. The holiday doesn't mean much here in Japan, but it does make me a little homesick to see all of my friends posting things to the internet about meals, travel, and break. I have a few things planned for tomorrow and the weekend, and have enjoyed reading the NPR Project Expat series this week, so my favorite holiday of the year will definitely not go without notice.

While Thanksgiving is virtually non-existant, Christmas is a secular holiday here in Japan, something celebrated the way Americans celebrate Valentines Day or Halloween- good, fluffy fun. I'll post more about it in the coming weeks, but decided to start my own Japanese Christmas season today. In the midst of combing through 1920s newspapers this afternoon for my research, I came across an amazing 1921 advertisement for Christmas decorations at a Ginza department store, complete with cocoa served at the store (above). I took it as a sign that my own holiday season should start today, despite my usual hard line against anything Christmas before Black Friday. So, this evening, I got out the decorations that I bought at the 100 Yen store a few weeks back.

 

 

Five dollar Christmas!

I turned to YouTube, and selected a Christmas music mix with a fireplace video. Amazing!

 

 

Ah, modern life.

I poured a glass of wine, and about 15 minutes later it's Christmas in my Tokyo apartment! Yay!

 

 

Cheers!