©1986 Lawrence I. Charters
Off Duty, December 1986, pp. 11-12.
The holiday season in Japan is a time of exciting special events, unusual Christmas traditions and the “greater snow.”
Taisetsu , “the greater snow,” one of the 24 points of the old Japanese solar calendar, opens the month of December. For those fortunate enough to have lived in a Japanese house, the reason is obvious. Barely awake and shivering from the morning cold, you make your way to a small closet equipped with a ceramic trench. According to the landlord, this trench is really a toilet, but on a December morning there is ample cause for doubt: would a toilet, no matter how unusual, normally have ice floes?
While you ponder how an ultramodern nation can survive without central heating, consider this: Shokan, “the lesser cold,” and Daikan, “the greater cold,” have yet to come. January will be even more brisk and refreshing.
Late December and early January are the holiday months in Japan. The year of the Tiger — 1986 — will come to a close, and the people of Asia will greet 1987, the Year of the Rabbit. This December should be particularly memorable since Christmas day will also mark the completion of 60 years under the current emperor, Hirohito, who is the longest-serving monarch of his dynasty, which is the world’s oldest. Since 1926 was declared Showa 1 (Showa is the name of the Emperor’s reign), 1987 will be Showa 62. By another reckoning, it will also be Year 2647, dating back to the legendary Emperor Jimmu’s founding of Japan in 660B.C.
However you date it, December is an exciting month. Special events are planned in honor of the Emperor, including several television documentaries on the Showa era. Even if you don’t understand Japanese, these documentaries should prove enlightening since they use rare film footage to show Japan’s remarkable transformation and growth over the past 60 years.
As Japan is an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, Christmas and Hanukkah are not considered holidays, but this doesn’t mean they go unrecognized. Office parties, the exchange of presents, and other secular aspects of the season are common.
Harder to explain is the spectacle around Asakusabashi subway station in Tokyo. Located on the Toei Asakusa line, the entire district surrounding the station dresses up with some of the most beautiful-and outrageous-Christmas decorations imaginable. Every conceivable kind of Christmas knickknack is offered for purchase, ranging from elegant musical tree trimmings playing “Sakura” to peculiar Santa Claus dolls that look oddly… Japanese. Take a camera when you visit, otherwise the folks back home will never believe you.
Another unusual “Christmas” tradition is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. While this may be Beethoven’s greatest work, and one of the finest pieces of music ever written, the Western world does not usually associate the symphony with Christmas. To the Japanese, though, the symphony is a tale of life’s crushing disappointments, and the closing chorale represents the glory of final victory. It also fits in perfectly with the Shinto and Buddhist New Year’s ceremonies of rebirth and renewal.
More performances of “the Ninth” are held every year in Japan than in all the rest of the world combined. Virtually every orchestra in the country puts on at least one performance, but the best may be those by the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Broadcast live on NHK TV’s Channel 1, with stereo sound, the highlight comes when a Japanese baritone of slight build leads off the chorale portion — singing in German.
Most of the month’s activities, however, center around the New Year. With Toji, the winter solstice, on December 21, the entire nation prepares to set aside the old year and experience a rebirth with the new. All debts should be paid off by December 31, since the “reborn” person should not be burdened with that old person’s debts. Businesses close the year by paying handsome bonuses to their employees, in the form of cash and large gifts.
Even if the temperature is well below freezing, windows and doors are thrown open to air out homes, and everything is given a vigorous cleaning. Neighborhood markets are packed with shoppers looking for the ingredients for special holiday dishes. Tsukiji market in Tokyo, the largest fish market in the world, has a huge surge in customers, jumping from the already incredible figure of 70,000 per day to as many as 800,000 per day.
Omisoka (New Year’s Eve) is sometimes referred to as the time of Joya no Kane (literally, the “bells of New Year’s Eve”). With the passing of the old year at midnight, Buddhist temple bells are rung 108 times to help dispel the 108 worldly sins.
Ganjitsu (New Year’s Day) is usually observed through hatsumode (first visit) to Buddhist temples. Daishi temple in Kawasaki usually attracts as many as three million worshipers, while Shinshoji, a Buddhist temple near Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, is visited by 2.5 million.
If you can, try to make a visit yourself; you will probably never see such a large, quiet, well-dressed crowd again. Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura is also recommended to those in the Tokyo area, and Miyajima’s shrines and temples, not far from Iwakuni, are particularly lovely. Those around Sasebo may choose to travel to Nagasaki and try either a Buddhist temple, Shinto shrine, or even Christian church.
While making a shrine visit, you might consider buying a white “devil suppressing” arrow, often hung near a home’s entrance to keep out evil spirits during the year. Considering the nature of Japan’s traffic, a car charm could also be a good investment. Usually identified by a suction cup for attaching it to the windshield, car charms also make good presents for needy friends. Some people choose to drive their brand-new cars right to the shrine to have them blessed.
For those who like to travel during the Christmas holidays but aren’t up to flying home, base tours outlets can fix you up with ski tours to various resorts around Japan, and Yokosuka’s Tours and Ticketing office even has a trip planned to Sapporo, Japan’s ultramodern city on the northern island of Hokkaido. While you’re checking out December tours, you should also ask about the Sapporo Snow Festival, held in early February. Reservations for this very popular event are usually severely limited, and it is not too early to sign up.
Tours to Tokyo’s Imperial Palace are usually available on January 2. This is a fine opportunity to see the Imperial family, and most tours also include an outing to Meiji Shrine. This is a Friday so you may have to take leave to get time off, but did you really have anything better to do the day after New Year’s Day?