Though Christmas is celebrated as a secular holiday in Japan, there are Xmas trees every where and gift giving is extremely popular.
Western influence.
I read this at your link:
"Less than 2% of the Japanese are Christians, and Christmas is not a national holiday, but it is celebrated by an increasing number of Japanese."
Of course, the information concerning Christmas in Japan came from this wonderful data:
In December 1999, we sent questionnaires to 1044 people who were registered in the category of Japan of our pen pal service and who indicated that they are willing to participate in surveys. We received 208 valid responses from Japanese people who live in Japan. However the participants are mainly female (75%), single (89%) and between 10 and 30 years young (82%). In addition, we must consider the fact that all participants are registered in an international pen pal service, which may mean that they are overall more internationally oriented than the average Japanese.
According to our survey, Christmas is something special for over 60% of the survey participants. The percentage is higher for women (67%) than for men (40%), and it is highest for female teenagers (86%). On Christmas, 34% of the survey participants have a special family dinner, 18% have a dinner with friends and 15% have a special dinner with their boyfriend or girlfriend. The survey results also show the typical Japanese Christmas menu: A large majority of 73% enjoys a Christmas cake and 34% prepare chicken. Only about 4% follow the American tradition of eating turkey.
So they are basing it on a survey that was sent to 1044 people of which 208 responded? Mainly teenage, female pen pals?
Sounds like our portfolio survey.
I didn't mean to get off track, but when is the traditional time for gifts to Japanese children? Is it Doll Day in March or Children's Day (Boys day) in May? Or do the kids use the money given to them for Japanese New Year to purchase gadgets with names like Nintendo, Sony and perhaps someday Microsoft? I'm curious.
BB |
