Hi, everyone! Just because I see this every year, I thought I’d do a little fanfic PSA. For all you sports anime / slice of life anime / etcetera fans in particular writing things about contemporary Japanese people living in Japan, here’s a handy guide to what to include and not include in your basic fluffy Christmas fic to make it realistic (note: yes, there are some Christians and non-nationals living in Japan, and of course it’s fine to write any way you want, but if you WANT to be a little more accurate, here’s a dandy list based on observations of a small fishing/farming village):
What you will not see:
- Kissing under the Mistletoe. The plant exists, but the concept of kissing under it does not. I’m sure some people must, emulating Western traditions, but when I lived in Japan and we did a unit on Christmas, not just the students at my school but also the teachers had never heard of the custom.
- Turkey/Ham. They don’t have it. Protip: if you’re writing about a foreigner visiting Japan who really wants to eat these things (or Kraft, or Alfredo sauce, or root beer, or what have you), you can place orders with foreign food importers like the Foreign Buyer’s Club or through many military installations in Fukuoka, Tokyo, Okinawa, etc. But your average Japanese supermarket will not have these.
- Cranberry sauce / sweet potatoes / green bean casserole / any kind of casserole / pie. It’s just not happening.
- Lots of religious-themed decorations (anything involving Jesus, crosses, the nativity). About 1% of the Japanese are Christian, and most of those are quite conservatively Christian (coming from the Jesuit tradition). In general, cross decorations are seen as more “creepy” than religious (think pentagrams–a religious symbol that mainstream people don’t really understand used to invoke a vague sense of spookiness).
- Live Christmas trees in homes. Some people might do this?? Not sure??? But no one I knew ever did and the concept sounded “Strange and very messy” to my friends over there.
What you will see:
- Fried Chicken. This is the “traditional” Japanese Christmas food.
- Lines at KFC. Get your reservation early.
- Roast and fried chickens in front of every store and covering every table at the supermarkets. Did I mention the chicken?
- Christmas Cake. It’s a sponge cake with frosting. Frequently has nuts and is covered in fondant, can be a roll cake.
- Romance. Christmas is considered a very romantic holiday, so expect to see a lot of kissing (though not the level of PDA you’d see in America), a lot of hand-holding, and a lot of couples taking walks together.
- Christmas lights. To be fair, Japan will take any excuse to put up festive lights.
- Character-based decorations. Santa, Rudolph, etc. are very popular.
- The song “Jingle Bells.” It’s the Christmas song. It’s also the ONLY Christmas song that my students could name or hum.
- Karaoke. You never don’t see Karaoke.
Again: feel free to write anything and any way you want! And this is far from an exhaustive list, and of course, your experience may vary. This is just mine. 🙂 Happy Holidays!