When I was little, Christmas was the day when Santa Claus came to my house to give me a gift. When I woke upon the day, I found that the gift was beside my bed. In Japan, Christmas gifts from Santa are usually put beside Children's beds. This might be partly because people don't know what Christmas gifts mean and partly because tiny Christmas trees are very common due to small houses. When I realized that Santa Claus doesn't exist, Christmas disappeared from my family. Every time I asked my mother to give me a Christmas gift, she said to me, "We aren't Christians, so we don't need to celebrate Christmas". Still, she'd buy a whole cake decorated for Christmas and roast chickens. As you can see, Christmas makes many people think of cakes and roast chickens. On Christmas Eve and day, well-known cake shops temporary appear in major train stations to sell Christmas cakes to businessmen/women on the way home (There are no national holidays for Christmas in Japan). KFC tries to achieve as large sales as possible. As for gifts, currently, many children seem to receive them from their parents and grandparents even after they realize the truth about Santa. About a week ago, on a train, I heard a few young business women having a small talk about Christmas. They said: "I've heard that XX is going to XX with her boyfriend on Christmas. I wish I had such a plan. We all don't have boyfriends. Do you have a plan on Christmas Eve and day? This year, Christmas Eve is on Friday. It sucks, doesn't it? While I stay alone at home after work on Friday night, I sometimes feel lonely. I don't want to spend Christmas Eve alone on Friday night. Why won't we go out for dinner together after work? ". This conversation reminded me of when I was in my late teens and 20s. Christmas makes young people feel like they want to have a romantic date with their boy/girlfriends. If they can't do that, then they try to fill the time with a party with their friends.
Actually, around Christmas, workers, including myself, are busy at both work and home because it's several days before the New Year holidays. I think that many of them are forced to work late on Christmas Eve and day.
I have a few Japanese Christian friends. They usually go to church on Christmas Eve.
