Christmas in Japan

Most Japanese people are not Christian. However, we always celebrate Christmas.
The shops and towns are usually decorated with Christmas decorations. Sometimes houses put up Christmas illuminations.

For us, the 24th of December is more important than Christmas day. Family or friends usually buy Christmas cakes which are made of chocolate or white cream with sponge and Christmas decorations.(We never eat dried fruit cake as a Christmas cake.) And we eat it with family or friends with KFC chicken and champagne. Kids usually have chan-mery(a non-alcohol drink specially made for Christmas). For young couples, they must book fancy restaurants for dinner. Restaurants often won’t give a booking if you are not a couple on Christmas Eve. Then the lovers exchange very expensive presents. Expensive hotels are sometimes also fully booked!

Children get one Christmas present from Santa. They are always next to the pillow on Christmas morning.

We hardly go to church and we rarely know that Christmas is the day that Jesus was born. And we never leave Christmas trees and decorations over the New Year. We often take them down the day after Christmas(sometimes even on Christmas day!).

A Japanese recipe-Miso soup

This is a recipe for Miso soup, a Japanese traditional soup.
For this meal, you need these ingredients:

For 4 people:
・800ml water
・10g of dried kelp (dashi-konbu), cut the edge
・200g of tofu, cut it into 1cm cubes
・5g of dried cut seaweed (Wakame)
・40g～50g of soy bean paste (Miso)

You can make delicious Miso soup like this:

・First, leave the kelp in room temperature water at least 30min.
・Next, heat the kelp water, then take out the kelp before boiling.
・After that, put the cubes of tofu and dried seaweed into the hot water and wait until the water is boiled.
・Then, turn the gas off, and put the bean paste into the hot water. And stir it carefully until it completely dissolves .
・Finally, the Miso soup is ready when soup is heated again. Remember, you shouldn’t boil the water any more.

My hometown- Moji, Japan

My hometown is called Moji. It is in the north part of Kyushu island in Japan. There is a bridge called Kanmon-kyo connecting Kyushu and Honshu. It has a population of about 95,000 people.
Moji used to be famous for one of the biggest international ports in Japan. However, after World War II, this port became less popular. About 20 years ago, the former mayor decided to repair old buildings and make a new sightseeing spot called Moji-ko Retro. This project is succeeding. Our hometown started to attract lots of tourists. Last spring, the old styled, new diesel-train started to run as well. Already 180,000 people within 6 months rode on this slowest train in Japan.
Our hometown faces the sea, and we have lot of fresh fish markets. Especially Fugu (blow fish) which is a delicacy here and is most expensive fish in Japan.
Also, we have a very famous shrine under the Kanmon-bridge called Mekari-jinjya. Every lunar New Year’s day at dawn, 3 Shinto-priests go to the sea to cut seaweed, and give it to the gods. Even though it is a very cold and very early morning ceremony, many people come to see them every year.