By Rina Hirate

In Japan, Christmas is not as important of a holiday because we have few Christians. Therefore, Christmas day is not a holiday in Japan. Students have to go to school; other people also have to go to work. However, we do have Christmas customs such as sending cards or receiving gifts from Santa!

After Halloween, suddenly the decorations change to Christmas ones, and also many stores start Christmas sales. These sales continue until Christmas day, but they are not as big as Black Friday in the U.S. In Japan, we usually celebrate Christmas with our significant others, and celebrate New Years day with family at home. Thus, Christmas is considered a romantic day. Many couples visit romantic places decorated by Christmas lights.

There is also a very unique Christmas custom in Japan. We eat KFC on Christmas day! During December 21^st to 25^th, KFC Japan sells over 6.6 billion yen. KFC Japan makes most of the profits during Christmas season. I know many people ask “WHY KFC?” In Japan, we don’t have the custom of eating Turkey, so in the past KFC Japan started to advertise Christmas Chicken! This advertising success continues and many people buy KFC Chicken on Christmas day. When you visit Japan, Christmas season, you can see long lines in front of KFC.