Opinion Japan's Foreign Fetes By GWEN A. ROBINSON	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
日本人の祭り好き クリスマスはもちろんのこと、感謝祭、ハロウィーンなど、どの国のどんなお祭でも祝ってしまう日本人。筆者はこの現象にずいぶん戸惑っている…。

Is Japan a nation of party-going revelers? One might think so from its enthusiastic embrace of all kinds of feasts and festivals. Sometimes it seems that almost any excuse will do.

Since late October alone, I've witnessed first the invasion of pumpkins and witches' hats for Halloween in Tokyo, with restaurants, clubs and schools staging special parties and parades for kids as well as adults. And now I'm looking at Thanksgiving turkey sales in local supermarkets and banquet promotions at restaurants and hotels.

Then, of course, there are the lavish Christmas preparations being made by stores and numerous other establishments. Soon, too, we'll be hearing that ubiquitous electronic carol music blasting out of shops and restaurants. Rarely have I witnessed such Christmas frenzy. In many cases, the decorations in large Tokyo department stores and hotels are so elaborate that they outdo anything I've seen in New York or London.

But there seems to be something missing in Japan's whole approach to celebrating Christmas: the underlying rationale for the occasion. I know the children of some of my Japanese friends love the decorations and sing the Christmas carols, but they don't know what the feast is all about. Anyway, there isn't much time to dwell on the event before the New Year festivities arrive.

Then along comes Valentine's Day with hearts and flowery greetings in all the big shops, followed by the curious ― and entirely Japanese ―"White Day." In March, St. Patrick's Day, and later on, Easter, have also made their mark on Japanese society and in commercial circles.

We mustn't forget, of course, that in between all these imported festivals, there are the various Japanese traditional celebrations, from local matsuri in every village and town to major national fetes such as O-bon. Few countries, in fact, seem to have as many traditional festivals and national days as Japan.

As an Australian, I come from a country which mainly celebrates its own national day and the common Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter. Halloween and Thanksgiving are strictly for Americans and pass unnoticed in Australia, as they do in other Western countries. So I'm particularly struck by Japan's overwhelming enthusiasm for foreign festivals and feasts.

It seems particularly strange to me for people of any nationality other than Americans to give thanks with the forefathers of the United States. Also, Christmas and Easter celebrations seem incongruous in a country with only a tiny handful of practicing Christians. But then, so does the popularity of Christian weddings in chapels and churches.

Would Japanese think it strange if Americans adopted O-bon as a national festival?

I suppose one of the most memorable comments on the whole phenomenon of Japan's imported celebrations came one St. Patrick's Day, when I encountered a happy group of young Japanese in a Roppongi bar. They were wearing green clothes and drinking green beer, specially colored in honor of Ireland's major national festival. "So who was St. Patrick, and what are you celebrating?" I asked. Their reply was: "I don't know ... some guy who liked green, and it's fun to celebrate!"

Shukan ST: Nov. 22, 1996

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