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Sapphire Holiday Special 2

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Chapter 2: Holidays in Japan
30 December 1984 (Showa 59)

The nation of Japan is dominated by two religions, Buddhism and the native Shinto.  However, particularly in the past couple of decades, the everyday culture of the Western nations has permeated Japan on a grand scale, managing to coexist with their traditional beliefs.  Lacking their own holidays, for the most part, the Japanese have adopted Christmas in particular and transformed it.  For the final chapter in my studies on winter holidays around the world, I have visited this land of the rising sun to get a peek into their unique mindset.  I am here with Michiru Murasaki of Nara, in the central part of the country, who identifies herself as a Buddhist but has a thing or two to share about Christmas and New Year's Day as observed in her homeland.

JC: Now, you have identified yourself as a Buddhist, if I am not mistaken, but do you celebrate Christmas in some form nonetheless?

MM: Believe it or not, yes.  Around here, Christmas doesn't have as much of a religious, spiritual significance.  We give gifts on Christmas, yes, but there aren't any family get-togethers or anything.  More than anything, really, Christmas and Christmas Eve are days for couples to get together.  My boyfriend and I just went on a date in Nara Park last week; once we finally found a secluded spot, lemme tell ya, it was magic.

JC: And yet you still observe Valentine's Day?

MM: Yes, and there's also White Day, pretty much the same thing a month after that.

JC: Let it never be said that the Japanese are unromantic, then!  [laughs]  Now, have you any idea how Christmas came to Japan in the first place?

MM: I couldn't tell you that, really...  Maybe it was after the War [WWII], when the Americans occupied?

JC: Not quite.  For the benefit of you and my readers, I have done some research of my own.  Christmas was first observed in the mid-16th century, after the arrival of Saint Francis Xavier, but started to take on modern influences from the start of the Meiji period in the late 1860s, when the ban on Christianity was revoked.  But you were partly right; the postwar period through the 1960s did see another wave of Western influence re-shape Christmas.

So with that, do you observe any other, more spiritually relevant holidays at around this time?

MM: Yes, actually, New Year's Day is a big deal in this country.  That's the big one, with all the spiritual significance, as you say.  At Midnight, Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times to help us get rid of our sins.  Later on in the day is a big time for visiting and praying at our local shrines.  In fact, we like to take stock of our first shrine visit of the new year, the first sunrise, the first dream – the hatsuyume, that's a biggie.

JC: How else do you celebrate the new year?

MM: That's when all the families get together with each other, or they send postcards to family members who couldn't make it so they can share in the season's greetings.  We also give envelopes of money to our children.

JC: That sounds a lot to me like the Chinese New Year, except you observe it on the 1st of January, as opposed to dates on the lunar calendar.  Did you know that Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, after the Meiji revolution?

MM: No, I did not.  I'll be honest with ya, I never had much of a chance to study history.

JC: Well, if I have inspired you to do so now, I will be glad to have done so.  Well, allow me to leave you with a hearty wish for a happy new year, for you and your boyfriend!

Chapter post-script: In 1989, the new Emperor Akihito ascended the Japanese imperial throne.  His birthday falls on the 23rd of December; as the Emperor's birthday is another major holiday for the Japanese, having it fall so close to Christmas and New Year's Day only serves to make the winter holiday season even more momentous for them.
Chapter 2 of the Sapphire Holiday Special focuses on how Christmas and New Year's Day are celebrated in Japan. More help from Wikipedia, although I knew some of this stuff already.
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