Christmas in Japan is actually nothing special. Japanese people don't typically exchange presents or have a big family dinner or do any of the things that Westerners consider traditional Christmas stuff. A lot of that gets done on New Year's Eve, including the presents for the kids (otoshidama) and the big family dinner (osechiryori) Christmas is viewed as more of a day for couples. Of course, they start putting up decorations at the beginning of November, and some people really go all out, but it has no meaning. It's actually a lot like Valentine's day; an empty holiday they took from the West and kinda warped to fit Japan. It's not a real holiday, and most places treat it like a normal work day. Usually schools are already closed for vacation, but of course Urawa Jitsugyo is different. They treat holidays as simply a chance to cram in more extra lessons, so the kids had three days of supplementary classes this week, including on Christmas Day. But fortunately I didn't have any, so I could spend Christmas at home. Even though I had a small tree and some presents (mostly for Hana) it simply didn't really feel like Christmas.
Donkeymon
