Christmas in Atlanta ... and Japan

A tall decorated pine tree atop a department store has been a holiday tradition in Atlanta.  It started in 1948 on the downtown Atlanta store of Rich's Department Store.  It was a large 70 to 90 feet tall (21-27 m) decorated white pine that was named Rich's Great Tree.  Rich's was sold to Macy's and now a Great Tree sits on their store at the Lenox Mall off Peachtree Road in Atlanta.

The lightning of the Great Tree starts the Christmas and Holidays celebrations in Atlanta.  This year the 72nd annual Great Tree Lighting event was on 24 November, 2019, and featured live musical performances with a fireworks finale set to favorite music.  There were more than 45,000 multi-colored lights on 490 branches of the tree, with a big red LED lighted star on top.  There are many holiday light displays in and around Atlanta: Atlantic Station, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Christmas Lights at Callanwolde (former home of one of the original founders of the Coca-Cola Company,) Light Festival at Centennial Olympic Park, Mountain Country Christmas Lights at the Stone Mountain Park, Lights of Life at the Life Chiropractic College in Marietta.  There are more places and neighborhoods with twinkling lights.  Below are some (courtesy the AJC.)  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

I was in Georgia for about nine days, driving back to Nashville on December 21, 2019.  To get into the Atlanta holiday spirit I drove to Lenox Mall where I had not been in several years.  I used to work across this mall in the early 1980s and it would take me half hour from my home in Cobb County during morning and afternoon rush hours.  This time, mid morning, it took me 1 hour 10 minutes!  Still, as the sign said I was glad to be back in Georgia.  I enjoyed walking and watching the decorated shops, the shoppers and the benches to rest my feet ... I took several pictures of a grassy reindeer before sitting next to him ... but he never spoke to me -:)

Since I was close to the Neiman Marcus store I went into it to admire their Christmas decorations which are always beautiful.  First I stopped at the counter of Maison Francis Kurkdjian perfumes, mostly because of its Armenian name.  Two gentlemen there told me that Francis Kurkdjian was a French Armenian perfumer of repute who had created many famous perfumes.  They sprayed my wrist with a sample that did smell wonderful.  I forgot its name though when they told me that the 2 ounce bottle costs $345! I thought it was safer to admire Christmas decorations ...

There were several lovely ornaments with the Neiman Marcus name.  I was tempted to buy one but since they started at $50 each I passed as I don't have a tree this year anyway.

After walking all around and up and down Neiman Marcus I walked outside and sat on a leather bench facing the store where I talked to someone this time.

A couple was standing nearby.  The lady went inside the store and the man came and sat next to me.  We started talking.  He told me he was a Japanese business man visiting Atlanta and had brought his wife to do some Christmas shopping.  He added that Christmas was big in Japan.  I was surprised as I thought Japan was mostly Buddhist.  Yes he said, we are 99% Buddhist but we all celebrate Christmas.  He added we don't celebrate it for the birth of Jesus Christ or any other religious reasons; we celebrate the mythical Santa Claus that we call Santa-san ((サンタさん .)  He said they also have a Japanese equivalent of Santa Claus.  It is Hoteiosho, a Buddhist monk who gives presents to well behaved children on Christmas morning.  (Later I found pictures.)

He explained that the Japanese love public lights at Christmas time that they call "Illuminations."  Most major cities, hotels, shops, malls, etc., display these incredible lights.  Osaka he said has major light exhibits that people come from afar to enjoy.

Another thing, he added, that would surprise me is that the big Christmas dinner in Japan is traditionally a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) dinner!  Later, on a French site I found out that in the 1970s when western expats were trying to find chicken or turkey in Japan for the holidays they could only find chicken in the KFC fast food restaurants.  KFC jumped on that and had a huge and aggressive (and rewarding) marketing campaign.  In 2017 the KFC chains sold, between December 23 and 25, 6 billion of yens in chickens (49 million Euros or approx 55 million dollars.)  Close to 4 million Japanese families get their holiday meal from KFC and have to order it months in advance or have to stand in queues for hours, the rest do go to the KFC fast food restaurants to eat.  Some people even think that Colonel Sanders is Santa Claus (pronounced as Santa Kuroosu ((サンタクロース  ) in Japanese.)

The other cultural difference is that Christmas Eve is considered the most romantic night of the year - like St. Valentine Day in western countries.  Couples start making plans months in advance to throw a party or go out to fancy restaurants and nightclubs that are solidly booked.  Hotels are booked as well and stores sell lovers' Christmas gifts while shops have displays of romantic items.

Another interesting fact he added that his American friends find unusual is that for the Japanese traditional Christmas music is not listening to Christmas carols, no, it is to listen to the "daiku."  The daiku I asked?  Yes, it means number nine he replied, we love Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  But he could not explain anymore as his wife was exiting Neiman Marcus with a shopping bag.  I said good-bye to him and he replied "Merii Kurisumasu" (Merry Christmas in Japanese.)

It certainly had been a fascinating conversation.  But I still had some shopping to do.  I drove back to Nashville at the end of that week and spent Christmas at my youngest daughter's home.  There was a beautiful Christmas tree there with many ornaments and gifts.  The two au pairs, one Chinese the other French, enjoyed their new Nashville Predators' sweatshirts (the Predators are the professional ice hockey team based in Nashville.)

For this post I read more on the Japanese Christmas.  I found out that during World War I, the first performance of Beethoven's Ninth was played by Germans held as prisoners at the Bando POW camp in Tokushima.  The Japanese loved this piece of music and it has become a holiday hit.  Japan goes crazy for the final movement of the symphony "Ode to Joy."  In 2018 Beethoven's Ninth was performed more frequently in Japan than anywhere else in the world.  It received more than 170 performances in Tokyo alone.  The last two weeks of December, Suntory Hall presented 11 sold-out performances and Yomiuri Nippon Hall seven.  It is so beloved by the Japanese that they sing it in choirs (even in German) all around the country.  The Osaka choir called "The Number Nine Chorus" comprises close to 10,000 members who perform it every year.  I found one performance on YouTube.

Many people in the US might complain that is is not right for the Japanese to celebrate Christmas in a non-Christian way.  Well, millions of people in the West celebrate Christmas in a non-religious way as well; they see it as a more cultural event than a religious one.  It is really a winter festival that predates many faiths.  It is about family, friendship, charity, gift giving, kindness, happiness and joy.  Why can't it be shared?  We share the earth, the sea, the rivers and mountains, the trees and wild animals, the sky, sun and stars, even a sunset (such as the one below on Christmas Day from my daughter's window,) so why can't we share a holiday if it makes everyone happy?  It does not take away from those who celebrate it in a religious manner.  We should all be able to share the Yuletide for peace and goodwill to all.

And since we are just a few days to the end of the year, I wish each of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!