Meri Kurisumasu: Celebrating Christmas Japanese Style

Japan is pre­dom­i­nantly a Non-Christian nation, with the major reli­gions being Shin­to­ism and Bud­dhism. Only about 1% of the pop­u­la­tion is Chris­t­ian. There­fore, it isn’t uncom­mon for Chris­t­ian cel­e­brat­ing coun­tries to believe that Japan would sleep­walk through one of the most vibrant fes­ti­vals to be cel­e­brated in the world. Noth­ing could be fur­ther from the truth.

Christ­mas is a widely cel­e­brated fes­ti­val Japan, though not for its reli­gious sym­bol­ism. Women and chil­dren are greatly fas­ci­nated by the story of baby Jesus being born in the manger; how­ever, the cel­e­bra­tions in Japan dur­ing the Christ­mas sea­son have more roman­tic con­no­ta­tions. (more…)