I can’t believe some shops started selling for Xmas from just after the August bank holiday!  But now it’s December and I’m not afraid of being in a festive mood, it’s official!  24 more sleeps till Christmas!

In Japan Christmas day is a normal working day and is a purely commercial event. But we do exchange some presents and have a Western style meal.  My friend Tony, who loves cooking, invited us for Christmas roast in Japan a couple of years ago.  One time he was eager to have roast chicken (turkey is very rare in Japan) but he couldn’t find a whole chicken in the local supermarket so he bought all the separate parts of the chicken and tied them all together to make some kind of Frankenstein chicken.  It was very impressive!

Japan has lots of festive songs too and this is a popular one for kids. It was a big hit when I was a kid and I still hear it these days. It’s a about a sloppy Santa Claus.

And this is the Japanese version of Silent Night.

We also eat cake but usually a sponge cake - nothing like traditional English Christmas cake.  When my mum-in-law told me she bakes Christmas cake in September, I just couldn’t believe it!  How can the cake last that long?  Well now I know why and realised that what we have in Japan is not traditional.

Japanese Christmas Cake

Even though it’s not a traditional holiday in Japan when I was a little girl, Christmas time was the most exciting time of the year.  I really believed Father Christmas exists and made sure our house was unlocked so that he could come in on Christmas Eve!  On Christmas day, my brother and I sneaked out of bed way too early and tore off all the wrapping paper and were panting with anticipation to see what Santa had brought us.  Oh, that excitement and happiness… I would like Oscar to feel that too.

Last year was his first Christmas. We took a trip together to Alicante in Spain for some summer sun and he looked cute wearing his little Santa Hat, which was a gift from his uncle David and auntie Talida. When he opened his presents though he enjoyed the crinkly noise from the wrapping paper more than the actual presents themselves, bless him.

Christmas in Alicante

Oscar and Tomono - Original Hoodies

"Does Santa ride one of these?"

"C'mon Oscar, kiss for mummy!"

"Where's the wrapping paper?"

On a final note our Limited Edition Baby Kimono Gift Set is now flying to people all over the world.  I hope we can make some people feel happy when they receive our gorgeous gift box.  I’m so thrilled to imagine I can make someone smile just like my parents did for me 20 years ago.

Tomono x