What Is Christmas?

Recently I had a very interesting conversation with a Japanese friend, talking about the Holidays, starting with Halloween. I commented how Halloween is so popular in Japan. The shops started decorating and selling Halloween related Items 2 months earlier. In mid-sentence he interrupted asking the meaning of Halloween, I took my time explaining the whole history dating back to the Celtic. His response was amusing, he told me that he celebrated Halloween every year but have no Idea what it signifies except get dressed in costumes and attend Halloween Parties all over Tokyo.

Because of its commercialization the true meaning of Halloween is forgotten, I'm sure a lot of people have no clue about the origins of Halloween. Most Christians don't celebrate Halloween because of the mis-perception that it is the celebration of the dead. Which is not really true. According to History, Halloween is a day when the Celtics dress up in whatever terrifying outfit to chase away any evil that might destroy their crops and purify everything before new years (November 1st according to the Celtic Calender)

We then move on to thanksgiving. In which I commented I love the Idea of thanksgiving regardless of what people might say. I like the idea of setting aside a day to be thankful for the little victories and sharing time with families while digging into a huge turkey.

My friend quickly add " I don't understand why Japan celebrate Christmas". I had to agree since Japan is a Buddhist country but then he continued " Because not everybody have girlfriends and I don't have one too". I had to take a few breaths before answering.

You see, In Japan a lot of people thinks that Christmas day is a day that couples spent together. And for those who are single they just hate this day. Its like Valentines except instead of hearts, chocolates and red roses you have Santa Claus, a Christmas cake, which the couples will blow out the candles together like in birthdays, and presents. Couples date in areas, malls or parks that are lit with illumination.

I had to explain that Christmas is not about couples actually Christmas is :

A day (December 25th) set aside to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. The date is under constant criticism however the date may have been initially chosen to correspond with Roman Calenders, festivals or nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived.



Not all Christians celebrate Christmas and even non- Christians celebrate Christmas. The fashion in which Christmas is celebrated defers from family to family. Most people (me included) celebrate Christmas eve with a dinner around 12:01 with family and friends then rounding up the celebration with a brunch the next day. By afternoon Christmas is over and we look forward to celebrating New years. Recently, especially in Japan these holidays are totally commercialised and the true Christmas spirit is lost to expensive gifts and dinner.

I noticed that my friend began to relax and had this content look on his face followed by a loud roar of laughter (too unusual for a Japanese) I was  worried that he would run out on me and the bill and buy himself a Christmas tree and start decorating in a Christmas frenzy. My suspicion became true our dinner was cut short  and off he bounced to the nearest department store. The next day I got a call asking me to help him decorate the tree, not my area expertise (never had a Christmas tree) but I didn't want to ruin it for him so off I went. Another sad thing about Christmas in Japan is how expensive the Christmas trees are. I remember one Christmas my parents decided to go all out and create this huge Christmas with all the decorations and stuff. They ended up spending no more than $200, in Japan the Christmas trees are ridiculously expensive then the decorations and stuff are not included so you end up spending more than $1000 for a decent tree. 
I'm glad I saved Christmas for my friend and help him create a new tradition, why not do the same and give back hope, Joy and blessings to humanity this Christmas.