Christmas in Japan

Christmas in
JAPAN

EMAIL Date: November 29, 1997 5:48PM
Christmas In Japan --- A note from Ted Boswell, 7 Year CRJM Missionary in Japan.

Most Japanese are fairly ignorant about Christmas, just as most North Americans are fairly ignorant about the Japanese New Year holiday. (Our first Christmas we bought a small evergreen arrangement for a tiny "Christmas tree" only to find out later it was a traditional Japanese religious decoration for the New Year!)

But there is a certain kind of Christmas here in Japan. Let me describe it a little.

At the end of November merchandising heralds the onset (onslaught?) of the season. Santa's show up in some advertising and Christmas carols can be heard in stores. (In English!) Also advertisements appear for special Christmas eve and Christmas day hotel & restaurant dinners and shows, generally with a strong romance theme. More and more Christmas lights are going up each year (probably a thousand per cent increase in the seven years we've been here) on stores and at malls, though I've seen few if any on private homes.

Christmas trees (artificial --- there is no live Christmas tree market) however, have begun to appear in the occasional home, and can be bought in big department stores. Santa does not yet appear in person, only as an advertising foil. And the airwaves are not clogged with TV specials.

There are two special Japanese Christmas customs:

First, the Daiku, or Great Nine, which refers to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This is traditionally performed in many places at Christmas time (though probably as much in conjuction with the New Year), sometimes with huge massed choruses for the famous part with what American Christians sing as a hymn --- Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

The second custom is the Christmas Cake. Yes, friends, what Christmas would be complete without its Christmas Cake? How have you survived without one so long? Well, it's a blessing to the Japanese bakery industry, that's for sure, because this is not a home project. One buys it. And the Japanese are generally slack jawed when told that America knows no Christmas Cake and it's a Japanese custom.

Christmas is basically overshadowed by New Year's celebrations, sort of the opposite of America. In Japan Christmas is a subsidiary holiday, most treasured by merchants, I think. Christmas day, for example is not a holiday from work. Hence, most churches will have their special Christmas worship services on the nearest Sunday before the 25th and perhaps on Christmas eve.

Most Japanese naturally have a weak understanding of Christmas's religious roots and customs. I remember one Japanese pastor being asked if it's Santa's birthday. Christianity is respected in Japan but hardly known at all, which is not too surprising with less than 1% being Christian. However, many Japanese are interested in American Christmas customs and some Japanese churches take advantage of this to meet new Japanese and introduce them to Christmas, Jesus, and their church. For example, I work with a small (averaging 30 people on a Sunday morning) church in Misato, that has a special Candle Service, two kids meetings, three American Christmas programs, lots of special Christmas decorations and a gift pack handout for all guests during December. Through this they draw an extra 300-400 people to church.

One of the most touching experiences for me is to sit in a Christmas service and think of how some of those listening are hearing the Christmas story for the first time in their lives. That's a pretty special experience. In Japan, Christmas is a wonderful missionary opportunity. And that seems appropriate. After all, the first Christmas was about a missionary who came a truly long way to bring the good news.

If you have questions about Christmas in Japan or Japan in general, you can write me at : eatshushi@ktx.or.jp

SILENT NIGHT in Japanese:

EMAIL Date: December 31, 1996 10:40PM

People think New Year's Day is more important here in Japan than Christmas. Of course Christmas is a kind of enjoyable day and we celebrate the day, but many people don't exaclty know what is the original of Christmas. On the other hand New Year's Day is one of Japan's rituals, an important day. We stay up late, welcoming the day. On the New Year's Day we have a special dinner in the morning. We exchange the words,"OMEDETO GOZAIMASU(congratulations)" whenever we meet the first time instead of saying "Hello",or "Good morning"," Good afternoon" or "Good evening." Children are lucky to get special allowances, not just from their parents, but their relatives or neighbors. At the first meal we have a toast, saying"Omedeto gozaimasu" with a small glass of Japanese sake mixed with special ingredients which is called "Toso" or "Otoso".

My family and I are watching TV now and just welcoming the New Year's Day. It's now 10:40 at night in Japan.

I do wish the coming new year will be more wonderful day for you all, much better and less sorrow.

H. Fujimori

新年あけまして、おめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。
shinn nen akemashite omedetou gozaimasu kotosimo yorosiku onegai shimasu A Happy new Year.
End email 12/31/96

Christmas was introduced in Japan by the Christian missionaries. For many years only the Japenese people who converted to the Christian faith celebrated Christmas. Yet now the Christmas season in Japan is rich in celebration and is almost universally observed. The idea of exchanging gifts is an old tradition of the Japanese people. The Japanese stores have commercialized Christmas just as our western shops have done. For several weeks before the day, the stores proclaim Christmas. There are Christmas decorations and displays of appropriate gifts for men, women, and children -- especially children. With less than 1% of Japanese Christian, few truly understand the significance of the birth of Jesus.

The story of the Child Jesus born in a manger is fascinating to the little girls of Japan, for they love anything having to do with babies. In the scene of the Nativity many become familiar for the first time with a cradle, for Japanese babies have not slept traditionally in cradles.

Many western customs in observing Christmas have been adopted by the Japanese. It is a strong Japanese tradition to find things of interest from abroad and transform them into something that is uniquely Japanese. Besides exchanging gifts some Japanese families eat turkey on Christmas Day, and in some places there are even community Christmas trees. They decorate their houses with evergreens and mistletoe, and in some homes Christmas carols are sung gaily. Often a tree branch is hung from the ceiling. An omulet for good luck is placed on the front door.

In Japan there is a god or priest known as Hoteiosho, who closely resembles our Santa Claus. He is always pictured as a kind old man carrying a huge pack. Some folks believe that he has eyes in the back of his head. It is well for the children to be good when this all-seeing gentleman is abroad.

New Year's Day is the most important day of the whole calendar in Japan. On New Year's Eve the houses are cleaned thoroughly from top to bottom, and are decorated for the special day. When everything has been made clean and neat the people of the house dress themselves in their finest clothes, often traditional Japanese komonos. Then the father of the household may march through the house, followed by all the family, driving the evil spirits out. He throws dried beans into every corner bidding the evil spirits withdraw and good luck enter. The family goes to the shinto shrine, claps to get the "god's" attention, and seeks good fortune. Often bad fortunes are burned, but that custom depends on the shinto shrine and it's "god".

A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN

Before Christianity entered what is now the United States, it had entered Japan. The Christian faith was first introduced into Japan in the sixteenth century by Jesuit and later by Franciscan missionaries. By the end of that century, there were probably about 300,000 baptized believers in Japan.

Unfortunately, this promising beginning met reverses, brought about by rivalries between different groups of missionaries and political intrigues by the Spanish and Portuguese governments, along with power politics among factions in the Japanese government itself. The result was a suppression of Christians.

The first victims were six Franciscan friars and twenty of their converts, who were crucified as Nagasaki on 5 February 1597. After a short interval of relative tolerance, many other Christians were arrested, imprisoned for life, or tortured and killed; and the Church was totally driven underground by 1630. However, when Japan was re-opened to Western contacts 250 years later, it was found that a community of Japanese Christians had survived underground, without clergy, without Scriptures, with only very sketchy instructions in the doctrines of the faith, but with a firm commitment to Jesus as Lord. (I remind you that 250 years is a long time -- 250 years ago Americans were loyal subjects of King George II. How many of us are still faithful to King George II?)

The church began to grow again after Comodore Perry openned Japan with America's great white fleet. Missionaries poured into Japan.

However, during World War II, distrustful of Christians and their western contacts, the Japanese government herded many Christians into Nagaski. With great irony, the country most responsible for re-evangelizing Japan, dropped a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, killing many of these Christians. Yet, today there are still dedicated Christians in Japan and the church is growing.

A PRAYER FOR JAPAN

O God our Father, source of strength to all your saints, who brought the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of life eternal: Grant that we, being encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith we profess, even to death itself; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Please be with our missionaries in Japan and with the Japanese Church. Give them encouragement and wisdom. May many more Japanese people experience the love and grace that comes from you.

Go to Central Valley Christian School's Christmas Page

Return to Central Valley Christian School's home page
For this site:
You are visitor number 13299541
Thanks for your visit!