Christmas in Japan, part 2

Not long ago, I discussed how Christmas in Japan is somewhat different from the way it is in the United States. Yesterday, I saw the first of those differences in person.

Last night, I went to 7-Eleven. There at 7-Eleven, I saw an advertisement for something for Christmas stuck on the window. I don’t remember what it was, and I also couldn’t see it that well because of how dark it was outside, but it was there. Typically in the United States, advertising for Christmas things does not typically start appearing until much later than it does in Japan, as we have another holiday, Thanksgiving, in November. As a result, stores begin to stock Thanksgiving-related items and have Thanksgiving-related advertising in November. Once November is over, Christmas-related items and ads start appearing with greater frequency.

One other aspect to Christmas in Japan is of course KFC. Yesterday, KFC started accepting reservations for Christmas. In the United States, eating food from KFC on Christmas would be considered to be a very strange thing to do, as it is considered to be junk food in the United States and as such is not considered suitable for important holidays such as Christmas. In Japan, going to KFC for Christmas is of course normal. For several years after arriving in Japan, I wondered about what the association between Christmas and KFC is, but I didn’t research it until 2018. Researching it again just now seems to give conflicting reports of how this tradition came to be, so perhaps nobody knows the truth anymore, but it’s still something that is an interesting part of Japanese culture.

Recent Comments

    Categories