We’ve just come back from another holiday in Japan and absolutely loved the stunning Christmas decorations all around Tokyo (and elsewhere). The link to the JR ads is great - we now cannot get the Christmas Eve song out of our heads. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve and thank you so much for this lovely post.
As we were driving into Kyoto today, this song came on the radio and I laughed and said to my Japanese husband that Tatsuro Yamashita could probably buy himself a house with the royalties from this song alone! I’ve loved this song ever since I first hear it but although I knew about its origins, I did not understand the extent of its impact. I’ve lived in Japan a long time but had a few “yappari moments while reading this. Thank you!
Hiroko: Thanks for this - the fullest explanation of the commercial Christmas as celebrated in Japan I have yet come across. In the mid 90s in Japan I would ask my university students what they were planning for Christmas and they would tell me that they were lonely. And I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about - at first. And then I heard that it was the night a boy/young man might invite out/plan to spend the night with (they should be so lucky) - with the partner of their dreams/of the moment. My university students it seems generally had not found the one for the romantic evening's tryst - so therefore - ipso facto - they would be on their own - or with their mates - but otherwise "lonely" and so I understood that Christmas was NOTHING to do with the traditional US-influenced way of a mix of religious story and of a Santa bringing gifts - a time for families (and more the equivalent on many levels of Japanese New Year a week later). Here in Australia I've already heard Wham's famous song - and now thanks to the link - revived my familiarity with Silent Night/Holy Night by Yamashita Tatsurō. And here Christmas decorations are not taken down till January 6...
I stopped asking my students about their Christmas plans when one started to cry when this came up. (Perhaps she had just broken up with her boyfriend?). At that time I, too, had no idea it was a loaded question!
Addendum: That is to say, all in my opinion. I didn’t mean to write that as being the authority on the matter, and I imagine there are several other factors I am missing.
Bro, this song is a BANGER — i heard it for the first time last year (my first christmas in Japan) at a vinyl bar in Ebisu called Martha. Ever since both my brother and I have been desparate to find the song on spotify or apple music (in either Japan or USA accounts) but it doesn't exist. So we can only play on youtube.
All I can say is the song is indeed good enough to shift Christmas from 25 to 24.
I knew the JR ads and the song! I added it in my Christmas playlist on Spotify (though it’s a cover because the original is not available, at least in Italy). It’s so romantic and nostalgic, I really love it!
My son was born on Christmas Day, so when they start putting down the Christmas decorations on December 25, I feel very acutely a sadness in my heart. They couldn't wait one day to take them down, could they?
Aside from my memory of rushing to the hospital on Christmas Eve, perhaps my most memorable memories of the day are going to the convenience stores at around 8 pm or so to buy heavily discounted Christmas cakes, which are perhaps themselves another important Japanese Christmas tradition.
Above all, I think what's interesting about Christmas in Japan is how it has become a celebration of youth in most sense of the word. For children, it's the opportunity to enjoy the magic of Christmas in the form of lights, Santa, food, and presents. Later in life, it's the opportunity to enjoy the romance of the season, as the lights, Santa, food, and presents take a different shape. These are the factors why Christmas Eve became the bigger event for people in Japan who celebrated it—the events in the evening were the ones which were deemed most important.
Yamashita's "Christmas Eve" certainly is/was a beacon for the season, but I wonder if it was also part of the process led by younger generations and corporations (in separate ways) to create an ahistorical, more youth-centered holiday in Japan, much like they are trying (and failing) to do with Easter. The lightness of Christmas is a convenient contrast vis-a-vis the heaviness of the New Year holidays.
Great article! I also like the song Midnight Flight by Shogo Hamada though it seems to be about a sadder Christmas Eve!
We’ve just come back from another holiday in Japan and absolutely loved the stunning Christmas decorations all around Tokyo (and elsewhere). The link to the JR ads is great - we now cannot get the Christmas Eve song out of our heads. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve and thank you so much for this lovely post.
As we were driving into Kyoto today, this song came on the radio and I laughed and said to my Japanese husband that Tatsuro Yamashita could probably buy himself a house with the royalties from this song alone! I’ve loved this song ever since I first hear it but although I knew about its origins, I did not understand the extent of its impact. I’ve lived in Japan a long time but had a few “yappari moments while reading this. Thank you!
Hiroko: Thanks for this - the fullest explanation of the commercial Christmas as celebrated in Japan I have yet come across. In the mid 90s in Japan I would ask my university students what they were planning for Christmas and they would tell me that they were lonely. And I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about - at first. And then I heard that it was the night a boy/young man might invite out/plan to spend the night with (they should be so lucky) - with the partner of their dreams/of the moment. My university students it seems generally had not found the one for the romantic evening's tryst - so therefore - ipso facto - they would be on their own - or with their mates - but otherwise "lonely" and so I understood that Christmas was NOTHING to do with the traditional US-influenced way of a mix of religious story and of a Santa bringing gifts - a time for families (and more the equivalent on many levels of Japanese New Year a week later). Here in Australia I've already heard Wham's famous song - and now thanks to the link - revived my familiarity with Silent Night/Holy Night by Yamashita Tatsurō. And here Christmas decorations are not taken down till January 6...
I stopped asking my students about their Christmas plans when one started to cry when this came up. (Perhaps she had just broken up with her boyfriend?). At that time I, too, had no idea it was a loaded question!
Addendum: That is to say, all in my opinion. I didn’t mean to write that as being the authority on the matter, and I imagine there are several other factors I am missing.
Bro, this song is a BANGER — i heard it for the first time last year (my first christmas in Japan) at a vinyl bar in Ebisu called Martha. Ever since both my brother and I have been desparate to find the song on spotify or apple music (in either Japan or USA accounts) but it doesn't exist. So we can only play on youtube.
All I can say is the song is indeed good enough to shift Christmas from 25 to 24.
I knew the JR ads and the song! I added it in my Christmas playlist on Spotify (though it’s a cover because the original is not available, at least in Italy). It’s so romantic and nostalgic, I really love it!
My son was born on Christmas Day, so when they start putting down the Christmas decorations on December 25, I feel very acutely a sadness in my heart. They couldn't wait one day to take them down, could they?
Aside from my memory of rushing to the hospital on Christmas Eve, perhaps my most memorable memories of the day are going to the convenience stores at around 8 pm or so to buy heavily discounted Christmas cakes, which are perhaps themselves another important Japanese Christmas tradition.
Above all, I think what's interesting about Christmas in Japan is how it has become a celebration of youth in most sense of the word. For children, it's the opportunity to enjoy the magic of Christmas in the form of lights, Santa, food, and presents. Later in life, it's the opportunity to enjoy the romance of the season, as the lights, Santa, food, and presents take a different shape. These are the factors why Christmas Eve became the bigger event for people in Japan who celebrated it—the events in the evening were the ones which were deemed most important.
Yamashita's "Christmas Eve" certainly is/was a beacon for the season, but I wonder if it was also part of the process led by younger generations and corporations (in separate ways) to create an ahistorical, more youth-centered holiday in Japan, much like they are trying (and failing) to do with Easter. The lightness of Christmas is a convenient contrast vis-a-vis the heaviness of the New Year holidays.
Very interesting stuff! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!