Lights, Colonel, Cake!

This December marks my fourth Christmas in Tokyo and celebrating the holiday here is both a familiar and unique affair.

When the calendar year draws to a close, I become an equal opportunity celebrant. Three Kings Day? Diwali? Christmas? Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Winter Solstice? Festivus for the rest of us? Yes, please. If the promise of good food, a message about loving kindness, and exchanging gifts is part of the agenda then I’m here for it. 

This December marks my fourth Christmas in Tokyo and celebrating the holiday here is both a familiar and unique affair. Decorations begin appearing long before Halloween candy stashes have been depleted and European-style Christmas markets pop up in major city centers. The observant can attend religious services at one of the handful of churches in the city but for the most part Christmas in Tokyo is a secular celebration almost completely unbound from Christianity. 

I become an equal opportunity celebrant. Three Kings Day? Diwali? Christmas? Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? Winter Solstice? Festivus for the rest of us? Yes, please.

One of the biggest differences between Christmastime here as opposed to in the United States is that Christmas Eve in Japan has somehow morphed into a romantic holiday. This is purportedly the result of the massive 1982 pop hit, “Koibito Ga Santa Claus” which roughly translates to “My Lover is Santa Claus.” Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are regular work and school days but intimate dinners and special dates are standard fare for couples. That said, making time to go see the elaborate holiday light displays after the sun sets is an activity everyone can enjoy.

I have my own childhood memories of traveling to other neighborhoods to check out over-the-top Christmas decorations and holiday lights - Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights comes to mind - and when they were younger, I took my children to view Tom & Jerry’s House in San Francisco but Tokyo takes the practice of stringing up holiday lights and ups the ante by about 1000. Huge landscaped sound and light displays, sometimes with upwards of a million LED lights, aka illuminations, shine brightly every night from late November through January.

Image of Godzilla Christmas tree found here on Inventorspot.com.

If you’re looking for Christmas trees they can be found in malls and shopping districts aplenty. The majority follow traditional themes with baubles and ornaments galore but my favorite is this photo of a ginormous Godzilla shaped Christmas tree from a mall in Odaiba circa the early 2000s. If you’re inclined to trim your own tree at home, a tiny Charlie Brown tree can sometimes be purchased at florists and Ikea but anything above 6ft (180cm) can range in price from ¥50,000 to ¥100,000. Without adjusting for the exchange rate, we’re talking close to $1,000 USD for a half-dead pine tree. On top of that you have to pay to dispose of it. In Tokyo, you have to purchase a trash ticket for any item larger than one square foot (30cm) for the city to dispose of it. I can’t even begin to imagine the fees for a six-foot-tree and I’ll never have to because I will never, ever, ever have a live six-foot-tall Christmas tree in Japan. Suffice to say, most opt for artificial trees that will outlast Every. Single. Last. One. Of. Us.  

After decorations, the two biggest traditions associated with Christmas that are unique to Japan are food related. If I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes these last few years, I’d swear the mash-up between Colonel Sanders and Christmas in Japan was some sort of overblown urban myth but it’s not. KFC for Christmas dinner has been a holiday tradition here for several decades now. People place orders weeks in advance or line up on Christmas Eve for KFC. And while I can kinda sorta see Colonel Sander’s likeness to Santa, it’s still an unexpected pairing.

And finally, no meal is complete without Christmas Cake. You know the cake emoji on your phone? 🍰 It’s based on Japanese Christmas Cake. Specifically, Japanese Christmas Cake is a round sponge cake decorated with strawberries and whipped cream. It’s a symbol of prosperity with an origin story that dates back to WWII. The cake’s red and white colors are significant as they are reminiscent of both Christmas and Japan’s national flag. 🇯🇵 Orders are placed weeks in advance and the cakes become ubiquitous in the days and weeks leading up to the 25th of December. While this tradition may be a new one for some, when you get down to it, Christmas is a birthday celebration and what’s a birthday without cake? 

That’s all for now. See you in two weeks.

In Case You Missed It:

Newsletter No. 22 was a short reflection on grief.

Good Grief

Reminders:

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A Few Things:

1. Last week’s essay about grief lead me to Rebecca Soffer’s, “15 Ways to Nurture a Relationship After Someone Dies” and Elizabeth Keating’s “The Questions We Don’t Ask Our Families but Should.”

2. The 65ft 🎄 in front of Tom Taylor and Jerome “Jerry” Goldstein’s home started as a potted houseplant. The married couple were active members of their neighborhood and the LBGTQ+ community with Tom maintaining many of the Pride flags in the Castro before his death in 2020. 🏳️‍🌈

3. I found this video about making Japanese Christmas Cake inexplicably relaxing and this one is cute but I can’t get past the dog on the kitchen counter.

4. I definitely added “Koibito Ga Santa Claus” to my Christmas playlist. I think it fits right in there with, “Another Lonely Christmas” by Prince, Sugar Rum Fairy from the Harlem Nutcracker, and Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight by the Ramones.

   TELL ME:

   What are some of your favorite winter holiday and/or Christmas traditions? And more importantly, does it involve cake? 🍰 ✨