Christmas in Japan

Almost every Christmas word is English written in katakana, so if you can read katakana you can read the season. The one to learn in kanji is 予約. Cakes and chicken are ordered weeks ahead, and 予約受付中 goes up in shop windows from early November.

The two New Year greetings are not interchangeable. よいお年を is a goodbye, used up to 31 December. あけましておめでとうございます is only said from 1 January. Saying the second one early is the mistake to avoid. 年末年始 is worth recognising on a shop door: many places close for several days around 1 January, which catches visitors out far more than Christmas does.

A Japanese Christmas cake is a light sponge with whipped cream and strawberries, nothing like a fruit cake. Fried chicken became the Christmas dinner after a fast food chain’s advertising campaign in the 1970s, and it stuck. Both sell out. If you want either on the 24th, order ahead and collect it with 予約しています.

〜ませんか is the polite way to invite someone: it asks whether they would not like to, which leaves room to decline. Be aware of what you are asking. Christmas Eve is a date night, so inviting one person to see the lights on the 24th reads as romantic. And do not expect the decorations to linger. They come down on the 25th and the New Year ones go up the next morning.