Christmas in Japan

 

Tomoko grew up in Japan, and celebrated Christmas because her family was Christian. Now Christmas is Japan is more popular and more commercialized. Here are some of the ways that people in Japan currently celebrate this holiday.

In Japanese Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Meri Kurisumasu', written in the two Japanese scripts like this; Hiragana: めりーくりすます; Katakana: メリークリスマス. Santa is known as サンタさん、サンタクロース / Santa-san (Mr Santa) or サンタクロース / Santa-Kurosu (Santa Claus).

Even though Japan celebrates several holidays, Christmas is not a national holiday. Schools often take a New Year break so December 25 often is included in those closed days. During this time, many families in Japan like to visit Tokyo Disneyland to see the holiday decorations and parades. More generally, Japanese public areas create displays of lights and have seasonal lighting events.  Japan also hosts Christmas markers throughout the country. Children often have parties with games and dancing, and will eat decorated sponge cake, but they usually get only one gift at Christmas.  For adults, Christmas Eve is considered the most romantic day of the year; it is their Valentine’s Day equivalent. And what is the favorite Japanese Christmas meal? Kentucky Fried Chicken!

One Christmas activity that Tomoko would approve of is the performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, especially its “Ode to Joy” section, which is often sung in German.  

Valentine’s Day in Japan

 

Japan has many holidays, as Tomoko knows because she grew up there. Several holidays are centuries old and others are more modern, sometimes imported from other cultures. Valentine’s Day is one of the latter types of celebrations; it became popular starting in the 1950s due to commercial campaigns targeted to women.

February 14 is mainly enjoyed by students, but chocolate is given between couples and even coworkers.  In fact, in Japan, it is usually the woman who gives gifts to men such as candy; girl friends might make brownies (‘honmei-chocos” homemade chocolates), for instance, for their boy friends. Women may also give chocolates to their women friends too (“tomo choco”), and one can treat oneself to chocolate too (“jibun choco”)/

However, there is equal opportunity for giving in Japan, a custom that started in the 1980s by the Japanese Confectionery Industry Association. White Day, which occurs on March 14, is the day where people chocolates and other gifts to the people who gave them gifts on Valentine’s day – so men will give gifts then, sometimes returning the favor three-fold. The day is named based on the idea that the color what is a symbol of purity: an innocent kind of love.

Some things -- such as chocolate, gifts, and love – are international, and Tomoko shares them all.

Holiday time is performance time

It’s Christmas time, which is also performance time. The holidays are a time to celebrate, and they offer a wonderful opportunity to perform seasonal music.

Piano recitals at this time of year remain, at their heart, a high-stakes experience for both the music student as well as the teacher.

The ideal performance is memorized because it enables the performer to focus on interpretation; the basics of hitting the right notes have been internalized. Not that memorization is easy. When asked, “How do you memorize a piece of music?”, Tomoko replied , “It is like building a house, You build on the foundation. The hardest part is the starting stage. You have to persevere. You can’t be impatient. You must repeat, making sure that you play the right note so that your hand muscles will remember where to touch the keys. Don’t listen to the quality of the music at that point. If you continue with discipline, one day you will find that it’s done: you’ve memorized the piece.”

Next comes the process of analyzing the piece. Tomoko states that each piece has a number of elements that need to be considered: tone quality, articulation, rhythmic sense, phrasing, flow, and feeling. As Tomoko teaches her students she shows them these elements, typically giving them a good and a bad example, and asking them to choose. She trust her students to tell the difference, especially since she carefully selects the examples to scaffold critical analytical skills.

Just as she uses a building metaphor to describe memorizing, Tomoko applies that metaphor to developing the recital program. As the impresario for her students’ recitals, Tomoko loves the programming aspects, and chooses pieces to showcase each student’s ability, wherever they are on the performance spectrum. She puts together the program with a clear path in mind, and then matches the details, preparing all the music. Tomoko sees herself as a designer and fashioner of the musical program.

It takes up to four months to get ready for the recital. Students need time to memorize well, and they can’t peak too early. By the time of the performance, everyone is excited: the students, the parents, and Tomoko herself. The recital is stimulating, like a good game; all the students try their best. Recitals are not the time to criticize but rather a time to celebrate, like the holidays.

Tomoko has performed admirably for decades at recitals, and her recordings show her at recital level. Enjoy the season by choosing from her rich collection of CDs. Go to http://www.tomokohagiwara.com/recordings.html.
It’s a good way to start the year too.