Hello Senpai readers!

Have you ever wondered how the holidays portrayed in anime hold up against holidays in real Japan?  If anyone in Japan really celebrates Christmas? Or just what the deal is with White Day?

Well, we here at Senpai Magazine are happy to answer these questions and more- for Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s and yes- White Day.

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First off, it should be noted that we are mostly focusing on holidays that Japan and the USA share.  Japan has numerous cultural holidays and national holidays that share little to nothing in common with ours. None of the holidays discussed in this article, for example, are official nationally observed holidays in Japan except for New Year.

In this 3rd part of a 5 part series, we’re opening our hearts to study that delicious February holiday- Valentine’s Day. (If you would like to catch up with part one: Christmas in Japan, please click here, or part two: New Year’s in Japan then please click here.)

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Valentine’s Day in Japan is similar to the United States’ version in a lot of ways.  It is a romantic holiday and huge amounts of chocolate and gift-giving are involved.

Unlike our Valentine’s Day, however, only the girls and ladies give gifts.

W-what? Y-you don't mean that! It's not true! It CAN'T be true!

A month later there is a chance for boys and gentlemen to reciprocate the attention they were given on Valentine’s Day called White Day.

Oh. I see. Carry on.

Originally, chocolate was only given to someone whom the lady was interested in, but in order to be kind to boys who were in the embarrassing situation of receiving no chocolate, Valentine’s Day in Japan evolved to create other kinds of chocolate-giving.

Basically, this. (Not bad!) Or something similar, like prepackaged but less expensive, boxes of chocolate.

Giri or “obligation chocolate” is given to men whom the lady is not romantically interested in, but to whom she would like to be polite.

There is some variation on who receives this kind of chocolate, with some ladies only  giving it out to men whom she is friends with, while others give this kind of chocolate to all the men she goes to school or works with, including the teacher or the boss.  It is often bought, but can occasionally be homemade.

The quality can also vary depending on such factors as how much money the girl has, how much she likes the boys in question, and whether or not it is mandatory to give chocolate to all of one’s classmates or coworkers.

(Some of you may remember a similar rule during your own schooldays, about having a little paper valentine for each classmate, so that no one feels left out.)

The quality can vary- anything from nice to fairly nice to the bare minimum.

Homemade or bought "chocolates" do not necessarily have to be just chocolate either- these are cherry daifuku with chocolate.

Honmei chocolate is given to men for whom the girl or woman has a romantic interest, and is either more expensive, or more often, homemade.

It is one way that a lady can show her interest in a fellow who might have been previously oblivious, or who suspects he has her affection, but wasn’t sure.

Basically, it can mean anything from showing a basic interest to a full-blown crush or being in love.

Continuing its evolution as a holiday, there is also a recent trend among ladies in Japan to give chocolate to their female friends (or even give it to themselves)!

This platonic chocolate is called tomo chocolate.

Tohru giving out tomo chocolate

Good anime examples of Valentine’s Day in Japan are seen in the shows Yumeiro Patissiere and Vampire Knight.

[In the 11th episode of Fruits Basket, Tohru Honda  also shows us a great example example of chocolate-giving (even giving tomo chocolate to her female friends, Hana and Uo) but her example is overly extreme in some aspects- for full details, please watch the episode, or read the summary here.)

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I want a fairy who prevents my cakes from burning...

Yumeiro Patissiere is a fantasy, romance, school-life show centered on cooking.  It follows the adventures of a poor student named Amano Ichigo, her classmates, and the little “Sweets-Spirits” that accompany them through cooking school.

The 19^th episode  is excellent for illustrating common Japanese Valentine’s Day practices, etiquette, and feelings.

Amano is good friends with the “Sweets Princes,” three male students who are at the top of their cooking classes, and all have their own specialty and “Sweet-Spirit.”

Her rich rival, Miya Koshiro, is jealous of Amano because Miya has a powerful crush on one of the “princes,” Makoto Kashino. Her jealousy of their friendship causes her to challenge Amano to a competition for Valentine’s Day to see who can make better chocolate.

You do not have my vote for Chocolate Idol!

We learn in a flashback that the year before, Miya had given honmei chocolate to Makoto, and that it went very badly.  In reality, usually even imperfect chocolate would be received politely and with grace because the giver put in effort to make it— but this is a cooking school and Makoto is often a cold person- whose specialty is chocolate. He actually critiqued the gift explaining all the places where the spoiled heiress had gone wrong making it.  And then gave it back.

Makoto (who seems like the Simon Cowell of chocolate) is pretty much a “do-not” example.  His bad behavior is apparently so notorious that this year no one got him any chocolate. According to his “sweets spirit”, it is “because sending Makoto chocolate is basically like challenging him to a duel!”

The episode also goes over the concept of romantic honmei vs. polite giri chocolate, includes a sweet romantic subplot, and is notable for touching on the other sorts of people celebrating the holiday and giving chocolate, like friends, families and children.

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Break it up people, the only way they want your heart is for dinner!

In the popular anime Vampire Knight, there are good examples concerning some parts of the Valentine’s Day tradition of chocolate-giving and some extreme exaggerations.

Due to the vampire students being  so beautiful and charming,  the other students who wish to show their confectionery affection have to basically be crowd-controlled during the process, as though they were screaming teenyboppers giving Valentine’s Day chocolate to the Beatles or something.

(According to the show’s mythology, the vampires are so pleasant to look at and so magnetic thanks to their species- they are literally inhumanly beautiful, if you think of it that way).

Kaname

While some students at a school may get more chocolate because of their looks, personality, or popularity, clearly this level of mania is not an accurate representation of how most students would behave toward the people they’re gifting.

That being said- it is worth paying attention to the fact that the main character, Yuki, buys nice chocolate for Kaname (the boy she almost openly crushes on) but that the only homemade chocolate that turned out right she reserves for Zero (the boy she tells herself she cares for as a family member, but for whom she really has more complicated attachments).

Viewed in light of what we know about the ideas behind who gets what sort of chocolate, the entire holiday is helpful for illustrating the complicated relationship she has with both boys.

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Thanks for checking in with us for the third part of this 5 part holidays series!  Check back again in the coming weeks and months to see parts 4 & 5, beginning in a few weeks, with White Day in Japan!

~~~

Meanwhile, however you celebrate the holidays, all your friends here at Senpai Magazine share a fond wish for you – may you have a very happy holiday season, from New Year’s fresh start to windy White Day!

Hello Senpai readers!

Have you ever wondered how the holidays portrayed in anime hold up against holidays in real Japan?  If anyone in Japan really celebrates Christmas? Or just what the deal is with White Day?

Well, we here at Senpai Magazine are happy to answer these questions and more- for Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s and yes- White Day.

~~~

First off, it should be noted that we are mostly focusing on holidays that Japan and the USA share.  Japan has numerous cultural holidays and national holidays that share little to nothing in common with ours. None of the holidays discussed in this article, for example, are official nationally observed holidays in Japan except for New Year.

In this second part of a 5 part series, we’re briefly examining that time of year when we wipe our slates clean- New Year’s. (If you would like to catch up with part one: Christmas in Japan, please click here.)

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New Year’s Day in Japan is actually much closer to a religious holiday than Christmas.

Okay, well this is actually the Japanese ROYAL Family, but I'm sure they spend time together for the holidays too, right? Right.

January 1^st is a day that is celebrated with a mixture of reverence and happiness and is spent with the family.

While only the 1^st is a national holiday that people get off from work, the actual celebrating goes on from December 31^st to January 3^rd.

This period is called shogatsu or “New Year.”   New Year is the most important holiday so there are a lot of traditions that go along with it.

Before the New Year, there are traditions for wiping away the past year and preparing carefully for a fortunate new one.

Imagine sending a Christmas card to every relative, friend and co-worker. Yeah.

People send postcards with good wishes for the New Year ( nengaj?) to their family, friends, and associates.

It is considered in very poor taste to send a card to anyone in mourning for a family member who has died, so often in mid-November, many families in mourning will send out a card informing their circle of extended family, friends and associates about any deaths.

Although the post office accepts them as early as mid-December, all these postcards are all delivered on New Year’s Day.  For that reason (as you might imagine) a lot of temporary help is hired at the postal service during this time of year.

Before the actual New Year begins, however, there is a lot of preparation to do.  It is considered important to complete any obligations or duties before the New Year arrives so that the year can begin with a fresh start.

This feeling of “tidying up” and “finishing old business” is one that carries throughout a lot of the activities that have to do with the preparation for the holiday.

Kind of like this. (Okay- even if this were a bonenkai it would be a little extreme. But to be fair- they had a LOT of forgetting to do.)

December, in accordance with that sentiment of finishing off the old year,  is host to parties called bonenkai or “forgetting-the-year parties” which are celebrated with co-workers or friends.

During these parties, people gather to make merry with food and drink, all with the intention of forgetting the ending year’s worries.

Back at home, the preparation for the upcoming year continues as houses are thoroughly cleaned, and clothes, towels and bed linens are all washed.

A mini- kadomatsu being sold in a store.

The houses are then decorated with a kind of pine, bamboo, and plum tree ornamentation called kadomatsu (gate pine).

Each of these plants is chosen for their special symbolism to the holiday; they represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness.

There are different types for different regions of Japan, so what your specific plant would look like would depend on where you lived.

They range in size, so the plant might be large enough to stand beside a door, or small enough to sit on a table.

There are also specific traditions for disposal of the plants after the holiday has passed, which usually involves burning them.

All these tidying and decorating activities are in preparation for December 31^st, when the holiday’s tone leaves behind things like bonenkai and moves in a new direction. 

Beginning on the 31st the spirit of the holiday becomes more reverent and family-oriented and so do the traditions.

Relaxation is a part of the holiday, so people fly kites, write poetry and sometimes watch music shows on TV, perhaps most notably Khaku Uta Gassen, or “Red and White Song Battle” in the hours before the New Year.

Mochi are tasty and can also be made sweet, or with fillings.

The old rule was that no one is supposed to work on January 1^st, so food like mochi ) became traditional, because they can be made in advance of this day so that even work like cooking can be avoided.

Mochi are a flat, sticky rice cake.   They are so sticky and dense, in fact, that (occasionally) there are people who choke on them and die.

There is a list published of those few who died because of this (usually senior citizens) in the newspapers a few days after shogatsu.

Also in  preparation, pretty lacquered boxes called juubako are filled with special food (osechi ryoori) that has been designed to

So pretty~!

look nice and keep fresh for the three main days of shogatsu.

This, as with the mochi, is so that no one needs to cook during that time.

Which symbolic foods are specifically included in a particular box depends on what part of Japan you’re in and what is available.

It is also a tradition during shogatsu to eat certain foods for what they symbolize, such as eating toshikoshi soba (long buckwheat noodles) for longevity on New Year’s Eve.

Actually, the entire holiday has a heavy emphasis on symbolism.

An example?  At midnight, temple bells are rung to take away the sins of the past year.  It is done 108 times, the same number of sins believed in by Buddhists.

If you look to the right of the picture here, you'll see boys in uniform- they are basically the Japanese equivalent of the Boy Scouts we have here.

Because the New Year is considered completely separate from the old year, it is a big deal the first time a person does something on January 1^st since they did it “last year.”

New clothes are worn (sometimes these are traditional Japanese clothes, sometimes not).

Many people watch the first sun rise (Hatsuhinode) with their families, some even going so far as to drive to a spot where the sunrise can be seen better.

It is considered a good sign to greet the first sunrise with your “first” smile or laughter.

The first visit of the year to the shrine Hatsumde is made, and while there, people may pray, properly dispose of amulets from the year before, and get new ones.

Poetry written on this day often references one of the “firsts” experienced.

Some examples of the cute envelopes used for the Otoshidama

In addition to all the symbolism, the first of January is supposed to be as carefree and relaxed a day as possible, so people play games and children are given gifts of money (Otoshidama) usually in little decorated envelopes.

In January (but usually after that family-oriented shogatsu), shinnenkai or “New Year parties” are held.

These are similar to bonenkai in that they are usually celebrated with co-workers, associates or friends, and that they are usually held in restaurants.

A good example of Japanese New Year in anime is the 9th episode of Fruits Basket, and the anime movie, Tokyo Godfathers (for details about the movie see part one of this series):

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Yes. She almost always looks that excited.

Fruits Basket  (AKA Furuba)

The ninth episode of the popular Fruits Basket anime is a great example of some typical Japanese New Year’s traditions.

On the day of New Year’s Eve, Tohru Honda and the three Sohma family members she lives with (Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure) along with her friends Arisa and Saki, are busy with the traditional cleaning and repairing of the Sohmas’ small house in preparation for the coming year.

(The Sohmas are a little irregular on this point, as most families would have finished the day before so that the day of New Year’s Eve could be spent just relaxing entirely.)

Seriously, she's a saint.

Fulfilling obligations left over from the old year is also an obvious subplot of the episode- Shigure is an author, and his editor Mitsuru is at the house trying desperately to force him to finish his overdue manuscript.

She has had to ask the printer to stay open later on New Year’s Eve, the day right before nobody’s really supposed to be working, and most shops close early.

Meanwhile, Shigure plays around doing anything New-Year-related (such as helping with the cleaning and making a kite) seemingly so he can to avoid his responsibilities.

Cute, no?

The episode also shows Tohru and Yuki buying some of the special food to prepare for New Year’s, even though the Sohmas will not be home with Tohru for the holiday.

Akito, (the family’s irrational leader) has ordered that as per usual, Yuki and Kyo and Shigure must attend shogatsu with him and their other relatives.

As subjects to his whims the other Sohmas can be given a hellish existence at his merest displeasure, so this is an ugly, twisted version of a traditional New Year’s celebration.

Instead of being a reward for fulfilling their obligations, Akito has made the holiday another obligation; and instead of allowing them to start the year fresh, he is forcing them into a kind of stasis by demanding they observe the exact same patterns as previous years.

But this year will be different.

...Oops.

N-No, I'm fine! It's okay! I love being alone with just this picture of my dead Mom!

Kyo and Yuki realize that their friend, poor orphaned Tohru, will be sitting in the empty house alone for the first shogatsu since her mother’s death; and the boys defy their ruler and celebrate the holiday in their new home with her.

This is the most poignant (and probably also most interesting) part of the episode.

Look at that beautiful sunrise! Just remember kids-

The boys chose to save their friend from a lonely shogatsu, which also allowed them to save themselves; they broke the pattern of joyless New Year celebrations with their cruel relative, and finally created a fresh start.

Further, the choice to greet the New Year with Tohru seems to symbolically mark her as the boys’ family.

-falling off a roof is no way to start the year, okay?

Though they are not related, the bonds of their friendship create a new and healthier family for the three of them to share.

While a defiance of family is pretty much the opposite of a traditional Japanese New Year, Akito has shown that he is not their true family, and so they created one of their own; in that sense it is completely correct for the boys to ring in the New Year with Tohru instead.

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Thanks for checking in with us for the second part of this 5 part holidays series!  Check back again in the coming weeks and months to see parts 3-5, beginning in a few weeks, with Valentine’s Day in Japan!

~~~

Meanwhile, however you celebrate the holidays, all your friends here at Senpai Magazine share a fond wish for you – may you have a very happy holiday season, from New Year’s fresh start to windy White Day!