Whilst Christmas Day may be a normal work day, and Christmas decorations taken down on the 25th itself, the commercial aspect of the celebrations seems to be pretty similar here in Japan as back home.
*Twinkle* and I are out and about shopping for presents for our neices and nephews both here in Japan and back in the UK.
The shops here in Shibuya are packed. Shelves stacked with the same novelty Christmas items you'll find anywhere, and a few special items like these cuddly 'unco' - that's Japanese for 'poo'. Nice.
Whilst we're buying presents for the children here, for most of the family and friends we'll be buying goats from Oxfam ...to be given to families in developing countries where they'll make a huge difference to the recipients' lives.
We've done this for several years now; it feels like the 'right' thing to do when there's so much poverty in the world.
How about you? Is charity gift giving at Christmas popular in your family? If not, why not start a new trend?!
Joseph
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