Christmas in Japan hits differently. Quite an obvious statement, right? Over there, it’s less Silent Night and more “couples’ night.” In anime, that cultural remix becomes a reliable seasonal mood—part illumination festival and part heartbreak buffet. Where Western media gives us carols and cozy family dinners, anime hands us wistful glances, sparkling cityscapes, and the faint sound of loneliness wrapped in tinsel. But dare I say there is one element of Christmas that the Japanese seem to share, and that’s the commercialized nature of the holiday. Of course, not to say that there are no Christians in Japan who celebrate it for its true meaning—no, of course not.
Setting the Cultural Stage
To set the stage, I reached out to a good friend of mine who lives and teaches English there to help me understand the cultural impact of Christmas and its treatment in Japan. He shared that when he teaches our culture to his students, Christmas and New Year’s are reversed in America. Where we party on New Year’s, for the Japanese, Christmas is the celebratory time, while the time for family is New Year’s.
Me: I just wanted to confirm with you if the trope is true that Christmas is considered a romantic holiday in Japan and Fried Chicken and not related to the Christian origins right?
Him: YES! Absolutely. When I taught the US Culture class for college students, I told them Christmas and New Years are kind of reversed in America. Christmas is FAMILY and New Years is PARTY time/dates, etc. But in Japan it’s reversed. And yeah not based on Christ but… Japan is very very different about religion and religious thinking compared to the west/US. Like, I would say ‘agnostic’ but generally open to most religions for belief even.
Anime’s Christmas Tropes
Having been an enjoyer of anime for decades, this confirmed the pattern I’ve noticed having seen myriads of “Christmas” episodes, mainly in your slice-of-life genres, usually involving romance or romantic comedies. The trope usually goes that the protagonist builds up their courage to confess their feelings to their love interest at Christmas, or there’s usually some important date a couple has made hoping for sparks to fly, regardless of whatever shenanigans the plot calls for. The ones I find confusing as a Westerner are when the isekai genre tries to celebrate it by bringing the practice to whatever their world is. But I suppose that isn’t so far-fetched—hey, they did it in Narnia, and I could classify that as an isekai. But let’s not dive too deep into that; that can be a conversation of its own.
Of course, it’s also an excuse for studios to put their popular female leads into eye catching attire.
Just for giggles, apparently there is an argument in the Gundam community—possibly only in the West—that Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz and Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket are Christmas movies.
I’ll put my two cents in. No, I don’t think they are. They center around Gundams and freedom for space colonies, not Christmas itself. So there.
The KFC Obsession
The other cultural difference I found rather amusing was the obsession with Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is what my friend says:
Him: And yes, KFC chicken in a BIG thing, you have to preorder it well in advance. Without researching but just trying to remember, it was just a marketing stunt by KFC in the 70s ish when American culture was really admired (now it’s all Korean). But yeah that turned into a ceremony too.
It’s easy to see how Christmas is treated in anime. They see how the West treats Christmas, especially in America, where it’s all about the gifts, the decor, and Santa Claus. It’s no wonder that Japan gravitated toward those themes. And just in case you’re wondering, no, I am not attacking the portrayal of Christmas in anime—it’s just something I found interesting to think about how cultures interpret things, especially when they embrace it.
A Deeper Hope
If what my friend says is true about Japan being open to a lot of religious thought, it makes sense that they would incorporate something they’ve seen the West celebrate. Hopefully, they’ll dig deeper, past Santa Claus, fried chicken, and the fancy decor, and into the true meaning of the season.
Linus van Pelt said it best in A Charlie Brown Christmas:
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'”.
Merry Christmas to you guys and may you be able to spend it with those you love.
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English (US) · 