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jdnation
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1998
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 Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 1:00 pm
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| Kamieichi wrote: | Actually it had already before WW II.
Accoding to wikipedia ( https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/クリスマス#歴史), it was widely accepted in 1900 triggered by Christmas business.
In 1928 it spread enough that Asashi shimbun newspaper stated "Christmas is now a Japan's yearly event and Santa Claus has become a thing among Japanese children".
Also, from a scene set in 1934 of Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni (In This Corner Of The World), which is famous for being made based on derector Sunao Katabuchi's detailed history research.
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Now this is interesting! And makes sense considering Christians have been in Japan for 100s of years despite being a minority, and Japan has also had cultural importation from Russia and Europe long before Americans were on their shores. And even then, we have the wrong impression that Japan is somehow completely isolated from other cultures until WWII happened, which naturally is wrong.
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EricJ2
Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 1:16 pm
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| Northlander wrote: | | Japan basically made its own Christmas tradition, and I have a weird sense of respect for that, even if that means most Christmas episodes in anime doesn't really mean much to me personally. |
Can't recall the anime, but there's one line where the characters say "Well, yes, the West has their own different Christmas traditions, but in Japan, we celebrate it our own way."
(Oh, I'm sorry we foreigners get YOUR Christmas wrong...) 
There's the impression that they look at Westerners celebrating Christmas without cakes, dates or Extra-Crispy with the same quaint expression as they'd look at an anime fan convention trying to throw their own Tanabata or Hinamatsuri party.
| peno wrote: | | As someone who is from very Atheistic country, where Comunists in past tried (with varied success) to change Christmas to Atheistic event where they wanted people to buy as much as possible to help not that good economy and to show we actually has something on the shelves (when in fact a lot of goods were scarce), I may assure you that what Japans did with Christmas is still tame to what happened here. |
You mean one of the former East Europe bloc, where jolly white-bearded "Father Frost" delivers the presents to the kids on New Year's?
The State can try to keep out Christmas, but they can't keep out the kids' belief in Santa.
| Quote: | | But the thing is that even many Atheists here still celebrate Christmas as a family holidays, event where family is supposed to be together (pretty much like Thanksgiving in US, I guess). And that, in itself, is not bad thing, to be honest. |
It's basically what Scrooge found out: A little goodwill-to-man will never hurt, even if you do happen to be "smarter" than every other happily deluded "fool" with "Merry Christmas" on his lips. And one day's vacation every year from telling them that won't kill you either. 
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Compelled to Reply
Joined: 14 Jan 2017
Posts: 358
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:21 pm
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| enurtsol wrote: |
| Fenrin wrote: | |
What I want to know is how prevalent Christmas lights decorations are in Japan. I imagine no one probably decorates the front of their houses with them, but are they common on city storefronts or perhaps inside kids' rooms? Do they come in a range of colors or are they just the innocuous warm yellow/white kind? |
People don't decorate their houses with lights (or sync it to music and put it on Youtube  ) except expats, but to make up for it, many places of attraction go all-out decking anything and everything in LED lights |
Decorating the front of one's house with Christmas lights is mainly a post-war American thing which came out of rampant suburbanization (think white picket fence and ranch house), whereas in Europe and Japan there has always been less space. While people might decorate their terraces and entryways, that's really about it.
Large-scale Christmas lights are however probably the most famous aspect of Christmas in Japan, years before World War II, KFC, etc. Major department stores and municipalities would light up all the trees along main boulevards and in public space. What helped this catch on was likely its parallels to the Japanese pastime of "hanami" (viewing cherry blossoms), and attitude of Western modernity and romanticism. You could say the same about lights year-round, such as in Tokyo's Ginza and Shibuya, Osaka's and Dōtonbori.
| Gurren Rodan wrote: | |
Eh, I think it adds to the humorous irony of Japanese celebrating a "religious" holiday that's not even remotely related to their native religions. |
| SWAnimefan wrote: | | Another line of anthropological thinking is that Romans (like the Japanese) integrated the practice into their culture and not the Christians who appropriated a Pagan festival. Same with the Dutch and Germans who integrated their culture into Christmas and birthed the Christmas we know today.
Because the origins of Christmas was birthed from simple gift giving of Nicholas of Patara, Turkey in giving to the needy and later became fast-spreading practice. It wasn't adopted until Emperor Constantine 336 declared the day of celebration and a year later the Pope declared it the birthdate of Jesus. So to say that the Christians stole a Pagan holiday is wrong when it was the Pagan Romans themselves that transformed the holiday. Just like modern day Japan who took a Christian holiday and made it their own.
So the Japanese adaptation of Christmas gives us valuable insight into how Christmas became Christmas. No matter who originated the practice, no matter what, it's a time to be happy and be good to one another. |
It's not just Christmas. Even further back, when Japanese settled the archipelago, they adopted aspects of the indigenous peoples' pagan-like religion, and later syncretism with the arrival of Buddhism, created the basis of Shinto.
| #884745 wrote: | It's... not that different.
Except that cakes and illuminations are a much more formalized thing...
Then again, I lived in what's probably the least Christian part of the Western world (Manhattan) so I wouldn't know what it's like for the rest of America, I guess...
Oh, and there's Japanese lyrics to popular Christmas songs, including secular ones for songs like Silent Night. At an idol show I went to recently, they sang Jingle Bells and some other ones. |
Except maybe presents? Unless you consider cake and confectionery as presents, people might only exchange one or two presents, especially significant others. Speaking of which, I'm actually surprised the "sex on Christmas" troupe you see quite a lot in anime hasn't been mentioned.
Also, Manhattan is the least Christian part of the Western world? Maybe it's one of the least Christian in America on the grounds of irreligion, but hardly in the Western world.
Last edited by Compelled to Reply on Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:59 pm; edited 5 times in total
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peno
Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Posts: 349
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 9:00 pm
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| enurtsol wrote: | If ya think Xmas celebratory atmosphere is too early right after Thanksgiving, in Japan all that Xmas cheer starts right after Halloween.
Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, there's nothing between Halloween and Xmas, so get used to all those Xmas songs in your head.
And if it wasn't for Halloween, Xmas could begin even in September.
Heck, stores in Japan start selling Halloween paraphernalia by August, right after Obon holiday.  |
Yeah, that's the same problem here as well, except we don't celebrate Halloweeen either, at least not the way North America, UK and Japan does, so, the Christmas atmosphere, especially in stores, is starting in October and sometimes even in September. But then again, it may not be necessarily bad thing, since it will remind you not to buy your Christmas presents on a last time, when there are the biggest crowds in stores LOL
| EricJ2 wrote: | |
You mean one of the former East Europe bloc, where jolly white-bearded "Father Frost" delivers the presents to the kids on New Year's?
The State can try to keep out Christmas, but they can't keep out the kids' belief in Santa.
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Yup, that one. The Czech Republic, to be more accurate. Though here it was "Ježíšek" (Little Jesus or Christkind) that was (unsuccessfully, needless to say) tried to be replaced by Russian Father Frost. After the revolution in 1989 Ježíšek returned back to mainstream popularity, though nowadays it is once again threatened to be replaced by Santa Claus, but that's for another story 
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