December 23, 2007

Christmas in Tokyo

Merry Christmas from Tokyo! Many have asked if the Japanese celebrate Christmas. Based on what we have observed, they do celebrate Christmas, but not to observe the Christian beliefs associated with it. They celebrate Christmas mostly for the fun and festivity of the season. So from Japan we say Merii Kurisumasu to you!

Photo 1: Sleeping Beauty Castle at Tokyo Disneyland dressed for Christmas

Photo 2: Colonel Sanders from KFC dressed as Santa

Photo 3: Elves.... Dwarfs... what's the difference? I think the Japanese may think they are the same... very funny! The Drawfs move and dance to music ... this day they danced to the reggae tune of "One Love, One Mind... lets get together and feel alright"... pass the pipe



Photo 4: Large present stack that lites up at night at Roppongi Hills Plaza


Photo 5: We take a picture each year at the Christmas Tree lot when choosing our tree. However, this year we went to a shop called Don Quixote and bought a tree in a box, complete with built-in-lights... and of course we still took our traditional "tree shopping" picture




Photos 6, 7, 8: Our kids decorated the "boxed" tree with just as much enthusiasm, as they would decorate our usual fresh 8 foot Christmas tree

I like the Santa Hat to improvise a "Christmas tree topper"... from the dollar store (hyaku en)


December 15th we will travel to California for my sister Lisa's wedding, and then head to Indiana for a relaxed Christmas at home as a family. Merry Christmas to you!

5 comments:

Kristine Van Buskirk said...

Love the pics! My favorite is the KFC santa. Very funny. Disneyland was fun to see too. Love the story of the boxed tree. Considering how long it took me to put lights on our tree, the pre-lighted ones sound pretty good to me. But the smell is not the same. I did have the girls put ornaments on it tonight. I told Stew, we weren't late, but bringing back the old tradition of decorating the tree on Christmas Eve. :)

Stewart Van Buskirk said...

I vote for the Colonel in the Santa suit too. That is pure comedy!

Kim said...

Gotta love the "fake" tree. No need to water it. It holds much heavier ornaments. It doesn't lose its needles. It only has to be paid for once. It is much easier to clean up. The only sad part...I wish it had that nice pine tree smell. Maybe there's a spray?

Sarie said...

Has Glenn lost weight? He's lookin' good. It might just be the fact that he's shaved. Tell him he looks NICE with a shaved face! Love the funny pictures!

Sarah

Natalie said...

It's great that your implementing your family traditions no matter where you are. We got your Christmas card - loved it! Very cleverly done and so fun to read!