laurainlimbo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laurainlimbo) wrote2009-12-24 03:06 am
laurainlimbo) wrote2009-12-24 03:06 am
Christmas Eve in Japan - and more pictures!
Before I post a few more pics, I thought I'd answer today's writer's block question since it's Christmas Eve here in Japan:
If you celebrate Christmas, what will you do this evening? If you don't will you still do something festive, or is it just another night?
Well, for many reasons, Christmas Eve is just another night for me, and it has been for many years. I do enjoy Christmas decorations, and I send out cards (most years), and I even love some holiday movies (like Elf !)... but I haven't been into giving gifts or doing the whole Christmas celebration for a long time. For me, Christmas only has meaning if I'm with my family in America, and only if I'm able to just enjoy being with them, and not obligated to buy gifts. I'm not stingy - in fact I love giving gifts to friends and family - but I just don't believe that Christmas should be a commercial holiday. It should be about sharing good times, love, and good food with our loved ones - it shouldn't be all about buying stuff that people don't want or need. For the last three years, I was not with family for any holidays, as I was living in Chicago. And this year, we're back in Japan, so I won't be with my family for Christmas or New Year's. Of course Christmas doesn't have the religious meaning in Japan that it does in other parts of the world (although I would argue that the holiday has really lost it's religious significance in western cultures lately as well); but sadly Japanese people have absorbed the "kitsch" of Christmas into their culture, and you can find holiday decorations, lights, and horrible "muzak" versions of Christmas songs in almost every store and restaurant. Lots of houses are even decorated with lights and reindeer and Santas, and of course some younger people, especially couples, celebrate Christmas by making or buying Christmas cakes. We had our own little mini celebration tonight, though - we decided that we'd been eating too much cake lately, so instead of cake, we asked Masahiko's mom to buy sushi. We we ate delicious sushi and chicken and miso soup for dinner, and I'm so full and satisfied!!
New Year's Day (正月 O-Shogatsu) is a much bigger celebration in Japan, and has much more cultural significance. My mother-in-law will be making Mochi and we will probably be eating Soba Noodles . Most Japanese people visit a shrine or temple, and it's also the time of year for house cleaning (like our spring cleaning in the states).
And speaking of New Year's, most people also send 年賀状, nengajō (New Year's cards), to family and friends. I finally sent my cards out today (29 of them!) - I had meant to send them yesterday, but it was a holiday (the Emperor's birthday). So, please let me know when you receive your cards:)
I'm planning to write some posts in the next few days about Japanese living, and my house, etc., but for now I'll leave you with a few more pictures I took when I was walking today and yesterday. The weather has been gloriously warm and sunny, and I had to get out and stretch my legs and get some exercise. It hasn't looked much like winter lately - sorry for all you folks in snowy parts of the world (unless you love the snow!)... anyway, here's some pics:
Here's the grocery store called Max Valu that was recently built near our house. The food is really inexpensive. This company, Aeon, just built a huge mall in Fuji that looks like an American shopping mall. They're taking over Japan, like Wal-Mart in America!:
Here's a string of vending machines on the street near the grocery store. The first three are just for cigarettes!:
Here's a Kinkan tree (in English it's called a kumquat) - these fruits resemble lemons, but Japanese use just the skin for cooking. it's very bitter:
And here's an example of Christmas "kitsch" - Santa Claus is trying to get into this unusual house that resembles a mountain cabin:
and finally another picture of Mt. Fuji:
Happy Christmas everyone! I'll be around a lot the next few days - nothing to do!!
If you celebrate Christmas, what will you do this evening? If you don't will you still do something festive, or is it just another night?
Well, for many reasons, Christmas Eve is just another night for me, and it has been for many years. I do enjoy Christmas decorations, and I send out cards (most years), and I even love some holiday movies (like Elf !)... but I haven't been into giving gifts or doing the whole Christmas celebration for a long time. For me, Christmas only has meaning if I'm with my family in America, and only if I'm able to just enjoy being with them, and not obligated to buy gifts. I'm not stingy - in fact I love giving gifts to friends and family - but I just don't believe that Christmas should be a commercial holiday. It should be about sharing good times, love, and good food with our loved ones - it shouldn't be all about buying stuff that people don't want or need. For the last three years, I was not with family for any holidays, as I was living in Chicago. And this year, we're back in Japan, so I won't be with my family for Christmas or New Year's. Of course Christmas doesn't have the religious meaning in Japan that it does in other parts of the world (although I would argue that the holiday has really lost it's religious significance in western cultures lately as well); but sadly Japanese people have absorbed the "kitsch" of Christmas into their culture, and you can find holiday decorations, lights, and horrible "muzak" versions of Christmas songs in almost every store and restaurant. Lots of houses are even decorated with lights and reindeer and Santas, and of course some younger people, especially couples, celebrate Christmas by making or buying Christmas cakes. We had our own little mini celebration tonight, though - we decided that we'd been eating too much cake lately, so instead of cake, we asked Masahiko's mom to buy sushi. We we ate delicious sushi and chicken and miso soup for dinner, and I'm so full and satisfied!!
New Year's Day (正月 O-Shogatsu) is a much bigger celebration in Japan, and has much more cultural significance. My mother-in-law will be making Mochi and we will probably be eating Soba Noodles . Most Japanese people visit a shrine or temple, and it's also the time of year for house cleaning (like our spring cleaning in the states).
And speaking of New Year's, most people also send 年賀状, nengajō (New Year's cards), to family and friends. I finally sent my cards out today (29 of them!) - I had meant to send them yesterday, but it was a holiday (the Emperor's birthday). So, please let me know when you receive your cards:)
I'm planning to write some posts in the next few days about Japanese living, and my house, etc., but for now I'll leave you with a few more pictures I took when I was walking today and yesterday. The weather has been gloriously warm and sunny, and I had to get out and stretch my legs and get some exercise. It hasn't looked much like winter lately - sorry for all you folks in snowy parts of the world (unless you love the snow!)... anyway, here's some pics:
Here's the grocery store called Max Valu that was recently built near our house. The food is really inexpensive. This company, Aeon, just built a huge mall in Fuji that looks like an American shopping mall. They're taking over Japan, like Wal-Mart in America!:
Here's a string of vending machines on the street near the grocery store. The first three are just for cigarettes!:
Here's a Kinkan tree (in English it's called a kumquat) - these fruits resemble lemons, but Japanese use just the skin for cooking. it's very bitter:
And here's an example of Christmas "kitsch" - Santa Claus is trying to get into this unusual house that resembles a mountain cabin:
and finally another picture of Mt. Fuji:
Happy Christmas everyone! I'll be around a lot the next few days - nothing to do!!
no subject
Your pictures look great! You really make me crave for me now.
I knew about Xmas in Japan - it's quite similar in China where people celebrate it just for the sake of celebrating it. The lunar new year's, which Japan now replaced with the solar new year's, is a much bigger deal, likewise. =)
Hope all is well! Merry Christmas!
no subject
what is it that you are craving? that sentence seems to be missing something - LOL!
yea, the idea of Christmas here is just silly really. Japanese just like borrowing western traditions and decorations. they like the "kawaii" (cute) stuff like santas and trees.
happy holidays!
no subject
Haha, it's interesting to point out japanese people like to borrow ideas. I think that's part of what makes it Japan. They borrowed Kanji and developed it into the modern Japanese writing system. They borrowed ideas of capitalism at the end of Edo and started the Meiji era and industrialized Japan. They continue to learn from others and incorporate that into their culture and society. Yet they are tightly knit and don't easily accept outsiders. Anyway, I ramble...
Happy holidays to you too! I'll do my part of saving energy by wearing more clothes and not using the heater. ^_*
no subject
yes, borrowing and making it their own is Japan's way. we learned that when I came over here for the JET Programme. Masahiko (my husband) criticizes the importance that this country places on anything American though. Japanese love American movies and American culture, and Japan's media is very deferential to America. I could go on and on...
we do lots of wearing more clothes to stay warm - but thankfully it's not been so cold the last week.
no subject
That's not necessarily a bad thing, I think. When we place ourselves at such a position, we tend to look for ways to improve and learn from others. Compared to the insolence and arrogance of imperial China, there is a reason China fell in the 19th century while Japan transformed into a modern nation.
May I say there is a little bit of irony that Masahiko married an American woman? ^_^ *ducks under a table from a thrown beer bottle*
no subject
haha - I'd never throw a bottle at you, silly! it is actually very natural that Masahiko married an American woman. he's very Japanese in some ways, but he's always had an interest in western culture, especially music and culture. he knows less about Japanese culture than I do, which is funny! But he does tend to criticize his own country, as well as America. it's his personality. so you were right in seeing the irony:)