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Christmas in Japan Dec.24-25
Christmas in Japan can be rather strange for those who are used to the typical western style Christmas. As you walk around the streets of major cities you might find many places with Christmas lights, Santa Clause, and the sound of Christmas carols. When you walk around the streets of Tokyo you might find many department stores advertising as if it was Valentines Day. For many Japanese, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, rather than the 25th. For the young couples this the most romantic day of the year, they usually buy each other presents and go on a date on the 24th. As for families, some parents will buy their kids a present and some families like going to Kentucky Fried Chicken a.k.a. KFC for their dinner on the 24th. The lines at KFC are very long and you might even have to wait a half hour to an hour in some places just to get fried chicken! At the end of the night, many families and couples will have their "Christmas cake" that costs anywhere from $20 and up, to end their Christmas celebration. As mentioned above, there are many places to check out the beautiful Christmas lights, and here is a list of the Top 10 sites to see. Click here.




New Year's Eve and New Year's Dec. 31-Jan.1
The New Year's Eve holiday is celebrated rather differently in Japan than it is in Western countries. New Year's Eve in Japan is a rather quiet New Year's Eve, with no big fireworks celebrations or crazy drunkenness. Most people will go to a temple or shrine to witness a ringing of the bell (108 times for each of the worldly attachments) and to make an offering or prayer for the New Year, which in Japanese is called "hatsumode". This tradition is usually done on the first three days of the New Year at any shrine or temple. Some of the popular temples like, Meiji Shrine, and Sensoji Temple in Asakusa in Tokyo, can expect to wait in line at least 2 hours or more.