I don't celebrate Christmas (coz I'm a Muslim) but Christmas is a holiday in Malaysia. One thing I like about Christmas is the local toy shop usually will have sale during this time of the year :D
Makes me kinda sad when holidays become a marketing ploy to make more money. Specially when the meaning of Christmas is first and foremost a celebration of Christ and what not; but besides that, it should be a joyous time with Family and friends foremost. Really, presents aren't first in the list of important things. It's the fun to be had and all that merriment :p! Which brings me to this question: Is danny christian?
Hohoho... I see the Christmas article has finally come. It is very commericalized here, and it actually doesn't feel much like Christmas this year. I, myself, am not religous, far from. I do however luv this holiday, and spending it with friends and family. No day off Danny? I've been off since Monday, and straight till New Years Day. No, I'm not rubbing it in, and I bet you prefer to work anyways. Make sure you at least buy your wife something nice you workaholic, so you're not in the doghouse. So in case I don't get the chance to tell you all personally, Happy holidays Danny-san, and to all the hilarious poster to whom we all share a laugh. You know who you are you clowns. Cheers!
Christmas is a strange one for me. Im completely non-religious and a non-believer, yet i get swept up in the whole christmas thing just like everyone else! I, personally wouldnt know the difference between christmas in japan, and in the UK at the moment. The shops are crammed with stressed out shoppers, TV is packed with christmassy adverts and films, and a general super-commercialisation feeling is apparrent everywhere! Any chance you could do a 'new year in japan' type post in advance like this one? I wanna know what to expect when im there!
Christmas is probaly the biggest holiday there is here in denmark and while the songs we sing often are religious there is nothing religous about it really. The reason is so big is that it is usually very cold this time of the year here in denmark and it is very cozy sitting in the house with a lot of your relatives enjoying a gorgous dinner. I suppose almost everybody decorate there house either inside, outside or both, my father is quite fanatic about this actually i think we have 130 christmas alfs (in paper hung up) in our living room and ofcourse and christmas tree and so on. Further more here it is a 3 day holiday consisting of christmas, 1 christmas day and second christmas day.
All the lights are up, the shops are playing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" (it is 24 degrees celcius), but come Christmas day everyone will go to work as usual.
Everybody celebrates Christmas, even though they might not be Christian. I'd love to walk around the streets in Tokyo on Christmas time, looks lovely. My Christmas goes as the following; On the day before Christmas(December 24th), My whole family comes over to my home, we spend quality time with each other, then we go to a fancy restaurant in Down Town, then we come back to my home and open/share our presents at 12:00 a.m. midnight. Then we stay almost all night partying. Anyone else open presents @ midnight?
Christmas is big in the USA, but to me it's more of an excuse to take a day off, gorge oneself with food and get presents. People here say the meaning of Christmas is celebrating Jesus Christ and that you should be thinking of him, but honestly...is that what your seriously thinking about throughout the day? Your first thoughts when waking up are probably "I wonder what I got under the tree from Santa?" Everyone gets Christmas off in the USA. Unless maybe if your a police officer or something around those lines.
Being a Christian myself, I totally agree with laughingman that it's a shame that Christmas has become as commercialised and materialistic as it is today. I find it kinda funny, but also sad at the same time that the meaning of a holiday can stray so far from it's origin over the years.
Christianity is a major religion here in the Phils and christmas is a major festivity and everyone celebrates it whether a christian or not i think the Philippines got the record for a country who celebrates Christmas the longest. People started celebrating christmas from the starting of the "-ber" months (september-october-november-december) and it ends around the end of january MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY!!! ^____^
I think Christmas has nothing to do with religion, to my eyes is more a pagan celebration than a Christian celebration. The heart and soul of Christmas is about the art of giving your love to someone or to everyone, I kinda don't like it because people most of the time only do that in this time of the year and should do this all year.
Guys here get a day off on Christmas day but some still have to work... Well, whatever... MERRY X'MAS Y'ALL!
I am christian and I do agree that christmas these days are about Giving and not celebrating Jesus -.-
Woohoo! A christmassy post! XD Well...my family and I DO celebrate Christmas AND New Years, and we are not religious. It's just the time of the year where we can all just sit down, and eat and talk together about god knows what. I still remember the day when my parents forgot that it was new years and my dad went to sleep, and suddenly my mom remembered so we woke him up and he was like "O Me Gosh" *0* kind of face. Hahah! yeah...the good ol' days. But for some reason this year's christmas feels NOTHING like christmas at all, but then again, neither did my 16th b-day T-T Kind of depressing, but oh well I guess. Oh! And the saddest part of all is that I'm broke! And I still have christmas AND new years presents to buy D= I'm dooooooomed!! very depressing... Good thing I have an older brother who can buy the christmas gifts! Well, enough of me. MARRY X-MAS EVERYONE!
This must be why Japan gets hit with so many natural disasters, daikaiju, and atomic bombs. Its all the work of Jesus. JC is all "People of Japan for turning my birthday into a commercial holiday without giving me any mad props I am sending my homie Gamera to lay the beatdown on your small island nation."
Everyone pretty much closes on Christmas, maybe a few restaurants are open for those who want a Christmas breakfast/lunch/dinner and don't want to cook. Either that or stores will close early.
First of, Merry Christmas and a good slide into the new year. ^o^ In germany christmas turned into an commercial thing as well. In the news they rather complain about "ohhh people don't buy so much cause no one has money" as "ohhh no one does go to the church anymore". And t his in a country with a majority of christians... For me personaly i'm not much better, i don't go the church myself... i'm not that big of a believer and i'm just christian because my mother would "punish" me if i would not be. ;) We usualy celebrate christmas just with a lot of good food (cooking together and such), we don't do gifts anymore since it's only my mother and me.
I don't celebrate Christmas but would really love too... Not the party style though... I hate seeing all the wild parties on the streets... (On the street! Literally!) Just a quite family dinner or a simple gathering with friends would be nice... Sitting by the fire place, watching the first snow of Christmas... But that's just a dream... You'd have to be crazy to actually have a functioning fire place in your home in Malaysia... (Unless you live up the mountains or just have it built as part of the interior design...) And there could never be a real white Christmas here... (Unless the pollution mess up the climate so much that it'll actually snow in tropical area... But the snow would probably be toxic...) Anyway, just wanna wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year 2008... (^o^)/
In response to one of the earlier posts that says the poster saw Christmas as more of a pagan holiday, well, it's not :) It's the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, our lord and saviour. Here in the Philippines I remember there was a town that made it illegal to use X-Mas in any public sign, and insisted it be the full "Christmas." Sort of putting the "Christ" back in "Christmas" Though I recall someone telling me that the celebration WAS placed on a pagan holiday, the Winter Solstice, in an attempt to make it easier for non-believers to convert. If I'm not mistaken, historically and Biblically Jesus was born sometime in March, though don't quote me on that. It shouldn't lessen the celebration in any way, though. :) Even if you aren't Christian, the whole concept of giving and sharing I think is pretty universal. But yes, I agree that the giving and sharing should be practiced all year round. As to how it's celebrated here, my fellow countryman already gave a good picture. We've probably the longest in the world. I know we don't take down our lights and angel decorations till after Valentine's day :D But I've rambled enough... ^^ Merry Christmas everyone!
Nuts and butts. I just typed this huge response, but it didn't go through properly. I clicked "back" to resend, but nope. All gone.
Well, having grown up in a family where we interact with other people with different religion, I would say that I enjoy christmas (though I'm not christian). I mean it's always fun to enjoy it with other people in this festive season, I reckon ^^.
i'm not religious so I don't celebrate it, while I do see the holiday is now becoming more and more of non religious holiday. My family celebrates New Year with exchange of presents, but this is an Eastern Europe tradition.
I'm not a particularly religious person, so all Christmas means for me is two long weekends (the other for New Years) and free food when I visit the family. Honestly the holiday is more about spending a little time with the family I don't see often rather than meaningless commercialism or religious hoo-haa.
I don't celerbrate Christmas. Don't really care about it, its all a conspiracy... To me that is.
i don't celebrate christmas but it is a public holiday in singapore. most companies get half day off on christmas eve as well. and lastly i wish everyone here a merry christmas. 圣诞快乐.
well i'm going over to hokkaido for my christmas lol..
I'm a filipino expat and I do not celebrate Christmas. I cannot support the gluttony and self-indulgence that this Hallmark holiday endorses no matter how "well-intentioned" these gestures are. But I do observe the winter solstice! At least the sun's relationship with the earth is real.
I'm not Christian and neither are any of my relatives. Christmas is then just present exchange with friends and family feasting for a few days. I like driving around during Xmas since other drivers seem more laid back this time of year.
I love how Japan celebrates christmas, there are pretty lights and huge christmas trees everywhere. In Singapore it's just in Orchard Road (the place where everyone goes shopping). No one in my family is christian but we still celebrate christmas anyway - just for the fun of it ^^
I think Christmas isn't big in Chinese culture, hence I don't celebrate it, my family has never celebrated it either, even though we're Christian.
My Japanese teacher said that only 0.7 japanese were christian. He also said that KFC sells really well in this time.
lol, business opportunity, that sounds bad, but still, lol
my family members are christians.. we do celebrate christmas every year..
Merry Christmas to you Danny ;-)
i'm not christian nor my familiy. christmas doesn't affect and i don't care about it
My family only sort of celebrates Christmas because everyone will be working on Christmas this year so we did "Christmas" last weekend. I honestly don't think religion needs to be a part of Christmas to celebrate or enjoy the good times and joyment that Christmas is supposed to bring.
i go to church on Christmas day and ponder about the nature of God becoming Man, and.... thats about it. I stopped giving and receiving presents years ago. I hate all the crap people tell me how I should be nice and cheerful during the season just because its THE season. My understanding is Christmas has been severely warped over the years and has lost its true meaning which is the birth of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior (and all-around good guy and destroyer of all evil)
What did the dog say? Think I heard "show us some booby," I know that isn't right..
i'm mexican and even thought i ain't religious Christmas is the most celebrated holiday by my family and also by the country. in my city (chihuahua,chihuahua) we had already a christmas parade and the holidays decorations by goverment where put on most of downtown. on durango city (i go there for xmas) there is a life size birth of jesus and a mini belen stablished on the guadiana park. there really is massive amount of decorations by goverment (as well as by households) to celebrate de ocasion, we also got posadas!
My family, just like everyone around here celebrates Christmas, but I really don't care about it. It's not really Christmas anymore...it's more like an excuse for businesses to try and sell stuff. I don't see why we need a specific day do be able to buy something for the people we care about. At the same time I don't see why we should feel that we NEED to buy them anything just because it's 'Christmas'. Every year my family nags me to make a list of stuff I want for Christmas, but it can't be very expensive, because I have a large family, so they can't afford to spend much on any one person--My thoughts on this are; 1. If it's not expensive and I want it, chances are pretty good I've already bought it. 2. Everyone's money could be better spent than burning them on miscellaneous frivolities that will likely be passed off to some one else at the next garage sale. 3. My family seems to have this odd belief that 'price' and 'value' are the same thing. Seriously, they cheap out as much as they can because there is many people to buy for. Then when the day comes around they are all bragging that their gift cost more than someone elses. I don't buy people gifts. Never have and never will. If anyone every gets a gift from me it won't be something that came from a store and it won't be because everyone gives gifts on Christmas, it will be because they deserved it.
Hell yeah, everybody is here drunk in christmas. :D
Christmas, to me is a time for families to get together and reminisce about the past year. who the hell am i kidding. its just another time of the year to extort presents from parents.^^ IMO, christmas is tooo commercialized these days, there is just no soul in it anymore.
I don't celebrate because I'm not a christian, I'm a moslem, and today we are having Idul Adha
I'm celebrating Christmas this year by first of all working until 2:30 (stupid Japanese companies!) and then I will be going out on a date in the evening with a beautiful, super cute girl. THATS what Christmas is all about!
btw, I was always wondering,are most japanese atheist?? CMIIW
@Dead Snake No, I remember reading wikipedia, it says most Japanese is Shinto, about 90% if I remember correctly. Here's the link if you want to read it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan#Demographics Then again, I prefer Japan to be atheist though. ^^
I lived in muslim country. So no Christmas for us. Not to mention we cant even allow to celebrate new year here. Even if we do, the police coming to raid the place up no matter its a restaurant or your home. boring place, but i already live with it for 20+ years. LOL
I'm a Jehovah's Witness so no Christmas.
We don't celebrate Christmas (At least me and my parents). It is a good reason for family reunion though and I am very fine when it is only about my parents and my older sister (if there is the chance). Me? I don't need gifts and I feel fine that way otherwise. ^_^ Still it is a pretext my extended family (who are not christian either) to give/receive gifts (My cousins which are still kids/teenagers obtain costly gifts from their parents). And whenever they organize a family reunion, I grit my teeth and secretly wait for the time to pass by. Affection for them? That is my way of showing it for those who do not deserve the true me. Diplomacy. ^^; Sorry for the rant... And if I forget to wish it to you Ladies and Gentlemen present here when the time comes, here it is in advance: Merry Christmas to all of you! (And yes, even if you don't celebrate it)
dont quote me on anything im gonna say but its my understanding that... as far as religion goes.. Christmas is on the wrong day. Everything that doesnt involve you doing some church/prayer related activity was adopted from from some secular idea/event to boost Christianities popularity. ie stanta presents etc.. My opinion would be that anyone who wants to celebrate xmas should go ahead and do so. Maybe all the religious aspects of the holiday should be removed all together and made into a world-like holiday since its not like the idea of families getting together is really considered bad.
@benjamin: thx for the info ^^ and look what I found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan it says : The primary religions of Japan are Buddhism and Shintō (神道, "the way of the gods"). Most Japanese people do not believe in just one exclusive religion; instead they incorporate the features of both religions in their daily lives in a process known as syncretism. ^^; I assume they don't really care about it
It's pretty much the same in every country in the far east. They do technically celebrate christmas, but you'll be hard pressed to find a difference between christmas day and any other random winter day. In Hong Kong, the civil servants get a holiday but all the shops, cafes, etc are still open as usual.
Advertisement No.: 1) A bank? 2, 3, 4 were fine; they got me hungry, in fact. 5 was... a bit freakish. 6... well that's fine too. And whether you'd Christmas or no, well, I'll wish you have a merry Christmas (and buy all the cutesome figures you want; tis' the season where you can justify the spendin' o' money! ;D)
sorry for the moslem's, but the mosque in my neighborhood singing from 6 am to 6 am, i didn't even get some sleep yesterday, no offense is this happen to most mosque (indo or no indo) yesterday? TV, shopping center, church celebrate christmas, not as flashy as japan though my family just having their x-mas holiday at home
Arrggg... A local figure/toy shop just launched its Christmas sale... Buy 3 get 1 free! (You get to choose all four and the cheapest of the four will be free of charge!) But I'm not gonna benefit from it, since all those that I really want are already in my home, sold out or still with the manufaturers... Sigh...
Is a little hard to explain, but... Sorry, I HATE Chirstmas!! Nothing personal, really... Oh, well, it deserves an explanation, I suppose... Well, I was working on supermarkets, and similar for years, and I tell you, people simply gets bersker this part of year. Where is the mensage of peace and all?? People is MORE furious that ever!! Plus, all is more expensive, not only food, the subway is aaall full of madnees people dressed with Santa`s hood, and desperatly looking for presents that cannot find beause are out of stock, and can find all the year more cheaper, and what in heel happens with mail service?! Why is soooo slow!?? AAARGH!! This is, in sintesis, the reason why I hate Christmas...
Hendrik: I think it didn't happen to most of the mosques... It only happened to ALL of them... It's Hari Raya Aidiladha... Probably a bigger event than Hari Raya Aidilfitri in the Islamic calendar... (Correct me if I'm wrong... I'm not a muslim... lol)
@hendrik: AFAIK yes it does happen on every mosque, it's called "takbiran(read: tuc beer-run,CMIIW)" are u not from indonesia?
@hendrik I sympathize, it must have been hard on you, I know how you feel since I was always (on daily basis) bothered by the mosque, too. You know, as someone on 10 months holiday (it's gonna end on february 12, 2008), I was (probably 3 months ago) used to sleep at 4-5 am, after playing games, browsing, reading hentai manga, etc.. But I couldn't sleep because a mosque (and it's not even near my house) started to sing so loudly (they use loudspeaker). The song is called "Alllahuakbar" song, I think. I apologize if I accidentally hurt anyone's feeling with this comment. Cheers.
the decoration @ roppongi hill is pretty nice. I happen to gaze down from my office last week and notice those white bulb trees lined alone the walkway below, very nice ^_^ oh ya, back in singapore, the streets will be decorated with lots of xmas stuff too, we have xmas count down every year. Dun think japan have count down for xmas?
that's not a song FYI, it's Adzan, a call for pray/Sholat(we pray 5 times a day, subuh,dhuhur,ashar,maghrib,and isya') and yes subuh is early in the morning before the sun rises let's get back to christmas talk shall we ^^;
here in Chile, its celebrated Christmas, but the high % its chritstian too. I'm not Christian, but some family it is, and i have no problem to share whit all =). But i'm disagree whit the promotion of a celebration in countrys where not beleave in this same religion, and only use for marketing, it's bad to the original's culture rescue.
I would say the majority of Americans celebrate Christmas too. Unfortunatly, worldwide Christmas is being stripped of all religious meaning- which I find extremely disappointing. I'm interested though, do people actually "celebrate" Christmas in Japan by having parties, jolly and good will to all men, etc? Or is it just buy a present and move on? Either way those christmas lights look beautiful!
I celebrate Christmas...but not in a religious way... It's just an excuse for me to blow my pay on toys
Yes I celebrate the winter solstice, also the birthday of Ishtar and more recently Jesus. It helps that I'm somewhat of an unrepentant materialist though. My family is Christian so it is a good excuse to party and give/get presents, and being an only child, I get more and don't have to spend as much money. Though I do think Saturnalia would be more fun, it had gambling and drinking and public nudity (I guess that wouldn't work in Canada at this time of year anyways)
If there is commercialism, there will also be also Christmas... and Valentine's day.
like others latin americans post down, the xmas can be the most religios thing in the year or not. But yes here in Mexico is common to see stables outside and things like that. And yes the problem is that USA suprass frontiers and xmas is too much comercial and that, Is a world problem
christmas is out of control! it needs to stop.
i agree with squee, i'm not really into Christmas if i celebrate it it's only because for me it's a good excuse to buy figures and stuff!!!
ppl rarely celebrate christmas in indo, well, not celebrate it in the house and for friggin 17 years i have life in indo, there's no friggin natural snow! my family celebrating christmas only when i'm still like elementary, which where most of my cousin usually gather at my house, some of them take a night at my home and we play with each other how i miss elementary....
