Christmas Shopping

Now that finals are all over and done with my winter break has finally begun! To celebrate, I cleaned my room. Thoroughly. It’s amazing how much completely useless paper can accumulate over the course of a semester, and even more amazing how many packages of free tissues can accumulate after 4 months in Japan (over 13). On Friday there was the last Toji market day of the year, which was ridiculously crowded with people shopping for the New Year’s festivities, but a necessary trip since finals had kept me from doing any Christmas shopping at all. Unfortunately, I actually didn’t manage to find much in the way of gifts, but I did manage to find myself a furisode kimono (one whose sleeves fall from the wrist to about mid-thigh with arms extended) for only about $30 that complements the obi that my host family bought me as an early Christmas gift. Christmas here is actually not a big deal at all, in any real terms, but lights, Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Christmas sales have been imported from the US. It’s actually almost more of a couple’s holiday, whereas New Year’s is a very big family holiday with several days’ worth of accompanying traditions. Since this coming year is the year of the mouse (we are just leaving the year of the boar) everywhere you look there are adorable mouse-themed greeting cards, statuettes for family altars, incense holders and all matter of sweets. Shrines and temples have been preparing for months already, but the official day to begin family preparations for New Year’s is the 22nd, the Winter Solstice (here in Japan).
-Christmas in Japan has somehow (I’m sure it was a brilliant marketing campaign) become associated with fried chicken. That, and Christmas cake, which comes in every size, style and flavour from any bakery in town.
-Rather like Christmas cards in the US, New Year’s cards are extremely important here. Though many people do them digitally (I here) through email, my family and many others set about the arduous task of writing to relatives and friends to wish them a Happy New Year.
-One of my friends noted that Japan, the capital of cute, is the perfect country to be in when we head into the year of the mouse.
-On the 22nd, it’s traditional to eat pumpkin and take a bath with yuzu, a lemon-like citrus fruit. Unfortunately, modern plumbing and fruit are not a good match, so if you want to take a yuzu-bath then you pretty much have to go to a bath house.
-They don’t sell much in the way of wrapping paper here, due mainly to the fact that any store will wrap nicely anything that you buy, usually for free.