Scary Christmas

In the spirit of "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993) and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" (Book by Dr. Seuss, 1957 and TV Special 1966)...

I call this series "Costco Consumerism, Christmas Capitalism and the Making of a New Japanese Univer(sal)ity Tradition..." (December 2024).

Bonus shot: "Deflated Santa and Frosty"

Related:

Scary Halloween (2024): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/10/scary-halloween.html

Celebrating the Holidays with a Row of Giant Dead Christmas Trees (at a certain university...) (2020): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2020/12/celebrating-holidays-with-row-of-giant.html

To be fair, there are other decorations at a certain university... (2020): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2020/12/to-be-fair-there-are-other-decorations.html

Happy Holidays! from「VAoJ」

No product endorsements intended.

Mugi-chan appears courtesy of Gonzo Anthropology Productions.

Happy Holidays from VAoJ!

Looking forward to drinking the psychedelic bottle of California Zinfandel with our traditional Christmas Eve dinner tonight. It's been a while since I have had wine, as my research has taken me in a different direction...

As always, here is the VAoJ bonus holiday present:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ&t=23s

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from「VAoJ」

Life-size (but skinny) dancing Santa in front of a new bakery in Hirakata-shi.

Bonus videos:

Celebrating the Holidays with a Row of Giant Dead Christmas Trees (at a certain university...)

Merry Christmas from 『VAOJ』

A few shots of Christmas cheer from Osaka...

Seasons Greetings! Ho-Ho-Ho...

Merry Christmas from VAOJ!

Santa Claus as displayed at a local convenience store in Osaka.

Santa Claus as displayed at Tenbun.

Merry Christmas from VAOJ!

Source: http://cuteoverload.com/2015/12/22/santa-sushi-well-of-course-it-is/

X-mas is over...

Yes, folks, X-mas is over in Japan. No one keeps their decorations up until New Years (or march/April as the case may be for some...). And to heck with storing X-mas decorations - much better to throw them away - more casualties of "cute trash" - and buy new, better ones next year... This one is dedicated to my former communist friend in Germany who hates X-mas. Happy Holidays from VAOJ.

Arashiyama Light Up 2010

Good things come in threes here in Japan and one of the top three light up events in the Kansai area around Christmas time is Kyoto Arashiyama Hanatouro. Bamboo groves and bridges and everything in between is lit up drawing huge crowds to enjoy the scene and take lots of photographs.

The other famous Kansai light up events are the Luminarie in Kobe and the Hikari Renaissance in Osaka. The events in Kyoto and Kobe have ended but you have until Christmas day to check out Osaka.

Link to Kyoto Arashiyama Hanatouro: http://www.hanatouro.jp/e/arashiyama/index.html

Link to Kobe Luminarie: http://www.kobe-luminarie.jp/

Link to Osaka Hikari Renaissance: http://www.hikari-renaissance.com/

Electric Christmas in Japan...

(Image borrowed from MSN Travel)

MSN Travel has a nice slideshow of Christmas trees around the world. The photo above shows Japan's contribution. Accompanying caption reads: A Christmas tree befitting Tokyo's nighttime neon display is projected onto the exterior of the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.

See other trees (and some very nice photos) at the slideshow.

Link to Christmas Trees 'Round the World
http://travel.msn.com//Guides/MSNTravelSlideShow.aspx?cp-documentid=377019&imageindex=1

Japan is famous for its Christmas light-up display shows, perhaps the most famous is the Kobe Luminarie which serves as a memorial for the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 17, 1995. I have been to Luminarie a few times and it is quite spectacular. And crowded.

This year I went to check out the Osaka Hikari-Renaissance in the Nakanoshima area. This display is much smaller and more low key than Luminarie but I was still excited to see it, especially after the new extension of the Keihan Train Line and its ushering in of a "Brand-New Osaka."

I am sure there is a lot of potential for futher development in the Nakanoshima area, but I wasn't greatly impressed with the new Keihan train stations. The two things that struck me about the Nakanoshima station was its abundance of stairs (Was it three stories worth straight up via exit 6? Where were the escalators and elevators? So much for the needs of the aging society and handicapped population...) and the wavy hand rails.

Trees adorned with changing multicolored lights across from West Light Park.

Inside West Light Park. There was an aroma life display (lights and smells), a live stage, various international food booths (I enjoyed the kebab sandwich, tandori chicken and hot wine), and light displays. Perhaps the most spectacular display was the laser show (images shot on to a building which acted as the display screen).

Light-up snowmen and Santas were popular attractions, especially for people with cameras (and kids and/or significant others).




Needless to say, Christmas is a big event in Japan, although its celebration and meanings are somewhat different from western interpretations making it a great example of globalization... If you are in Japan, good luck getting your Kentucky Fried Chicken, Christmas cake and love hotel rooms...

OK, so if that's not enough to get you in the mood for an eclectic, electric Christmas, check out these links (sent to me by my good friend Myra): Click here and here (click on the X to get the match). Happy Holidays from VAOJ.