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Christmas in Japan
Japan is not a country with a Christian tradition and Christmas is not a national holidays. The 25th of December schools are open and everyone goes to work. Christmas is celebrated as a day to spread joy around and Christmas Eve is to be spent with beloved people and lovers.
All the tradition linked to Christmas comes from the US and Japanese decorate their streets with light and swap cards and presents.
credits turtlepack.blogspot.co.uk
The most uncommon tradition is having dinner at KFC, with a bucket of fried chicken. This tradition is so popular that families start to book a table in a Kentucky Fries Chicken restaurant months before Christmas.
Christmas in Austria
Forget about the cute Christmas elves, in their striped stockings helping Santa wrapping the presents. In Austria things are different: traditionally it’s St Nicholas who delivers presents to the children and he’s helped by the Krampus, devils with horns and fangs who take the children who don’t behave.
The Night of the 5th December is Krampusnacht. Young men dress up with masks and animal furs and parade around the town ringing cowbells and carrying torches.
St. Nicholas is a tradition in many European countries and often he comes with scary helpers.
Christmas in New York
credits: nycsantacon.com
New York is always glittering with its many lights and in Christmas the city is even brighter. The decorations are dazzling and the shops compete to amaze their customers. The most curious tradition is, possibly, the SantaCon: hundreds of New Yorkers dressed as Santa Clause gather for a great red and white parade in the streets.
SantaCon is a charity event and the donations are given to charities in NYC and around the world. More info at http://santacon.nyc
Christmas in Hamburg
Germany is famous for the Christmas markets, where buy candles, craft presents seasonal food and sip a hot cup of Glühwein. Hamburg is no exception and almost every neighbourhood of the hanseatic city has its own Christmas Market. Different from the others is the Market of St. Pauli, in the red-light district of Hamburg. Santa Pauli Market is no place where to buy a present for your granny: There you can find strip shows, stands with sex toys and cups with Santa in BDSM clothing.
Christmas in the Philippines
Philippines are the country with the longest Christmas period: all the months ending with –ber (i.e. September, October, November and December) are considered Christmas period with all the decoration and Carols filling the streets of the archipelago. Are you still complaining about the Christmas light in the shops right after Halloween?
