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Video on Christmas in Japan now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBqFUxLw6M

I'd love to experience a Japanese Christmas, but from the latest video, it seems that wouldn't be very likely :\

Still though, would be nice.

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samurai8 wrote:

QUOTE:
If the video that Craig mentioned the Japanese Christmas like that,It can be a good thing,we my partner not celebrate Christmas for many years,there are many downside to Christmas,
our sons never recieve a Chrismas gift at all ever,But they still recieve our love and devotion,this is the true Christmas message,
The expectation of recieving present,whats for me ,what do I get this year attitude,Christmas alone,is not good for the elderly or socially disadvantaged,many young person do not even know who is Jesus,
which is the whole theme of Chrismas,All they know is gift coming,what will I get this year.It has grown into a commercial ogre,where all that matters is generate revenue,not really generate goodwill to others.
Allthough I am to understand that Japanese person do give present like,hello new nieghbor present,other such present for various reason,is this so?.

I see why you think that Christmas may be a bad thing, but as long as the parents teach their kids about the true meaning of Christmas (being with your family, love, etc like you said), it can be a great thing. Christmas holidays guarantee to get people happy and it gives them something to look forward to.

Maybe I'm being biased because I grew up where a huge Christmas is guaranteed every year, but this is just my opinion.

Umm, Christmas is a great marketing ploy and all that but I can see why many in Japan would not be all that happy with it. What people don't ever say, and the Japanese have no way of guessing, is that Christmas is always underpinned by sorrow. Jesus is born to die on the cross. The poor go hungry unless those that have more reach out to those in need. Express affection to your loved ones while you and they are still living and remember the ghosts of the past, for they are watching. So, to celebrate Christmas merely as a fun if stressful holiday of too many parties and giving presents and getting and trying to ram romance for couples in on top of it...well, that's a pretty tall order without anything to support it because it has no meaning. Simple affection isn't it

So, Christmas in Japan? Take it or leave it, I would say. Meh. Why celebrate a half understood notion that just costs everybody money? Japan has plenty of festivals that refer to exactly the feelings I was expressing. They just happen not to be in December.