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cel-

ebrated

more than

Christmas Day. Christ-

mas Eve is thought of as a

romantic day, in which couples spend

together and exchange presents. In

many ways it resembles Valentine’s

Day celebrations in the UK and the

USA. Young couples like to go for

walks to look at the Christmas lights

and have a romantic meal in a restau-

rant - booking a table on Christmas

Eve can be very difficult as it’s so

popular!

Christmas is not a national holi-

day in Japan, so schools and

businesses are normally open

on December 25th.

In Japanese Happy/Merry

Christmas is ‘Meri Kuri-

sumasu’.

Parties are often held

for children, with

games and

dancing. Japa-

nese Christ-

mas Cake is a

sponge cake

decorated

with trees,

flowers

and a

figure of

Santa

Claus.

In

Ja-

pan

Santa is

known

as

santa-

san

(Mr

Santa).

An-

other

Japa-

nese gift

bringer is

Hoteiosho,

a Japanese god of good fortune

from Buddhism and not really re-

lated to Christmas.

Fried chicken is often eaten

on Christmas day. It is the

busiest time of year for res-

taurants such as KFC and

people can place orders at

their local fast food restaurant

in advance!

The traditional Japanese Christmas

food is Christmas cake, but it’s not a

rich fruit cake, but is usually a sponge

cake decorated with strawberries and

whipped cream.

The Japanese New Year (called ‘o

shogatsu’) is more like a traditional

Western Christ-

mas. New Year

is the pe-

riod where

families get

together,

have a

spe-

cial

meal,

pray

and

send

greet-

ings

cards.

New Year

is celebrated over

five days from De-

cember 31st to Janu-

ary 4th and is a very busy

time.

Christmas in Poland

In Poland, Advent is the beginning

of Christmas Time. It’s a time when

people try to be peaceful and remem-

ber the