Ask John: Why is Christmas Popular in Anime?

Question:
Since Japan is mostly Buddhist and Shinto, I was just wondering why it is so popular for anime series to be made with Christmas themes if the anime series isn’t made specifically for people other than Japanese viewers.

Answer:
Japan is not a Christian country and Christmas is not an official Japanese national holiday, but that doesn’t mean that Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas. In America Christmas is traditionally considered the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In Japan, Christmas is a Western holiday on which people exchange gifts. It has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. In Japan, Christmas is a holiday purely promoted and supported by the retail industry, not the religious community. This is very similar to the way the Japanese confectionary industry intentionally imported the American “Valentine’s Day” holiday in 1958 and invented the “White Day” holiday in the 1960s in order to stimulate the sales of chocolate and other sweets. Christmas is popular in Japan simply because it’s fun to celebrate and exchange gifts (Japan is partial to holidays, after all) and because the decorations and pageantry associated with Christmas are very attractive and pretty to look at.

Although it may not be a religious holiday in Japan, Christmas is still a major event, so it’s natural that it earn mention in anime. Most commonly, the Christmas holiday is reflected in single episodes of longer anime series. Shows set in modern day may often have seasonally timely episodes like having characters celebrate Christmas during December, and Valentine’s Day around February. I don’t know of very many anime that specifically have “Christmas special” episodes, though. Love Hina and Di-Gi-Charat have both had specific Christmas specials. And the Itsudate My Santa OAV series is specifically centered on the Christmas holiday. But in most cases, anime series that feature episodes set during Christmas do so just to be timely.

Article revised January 4, 2007