クリスマス in Japan ?!?!

I haven't met too many Japanese who actually celebrate Christmas, but Japan on the whole certainly appears to have the spirit every year.

In cities, Xmas decorations and lights went up in mid-November and the department stores too have Christmas displays of candy canes, fake snow, and fake trees, walls of Hallmark cards, employees dressed in ridiculous elf costumes, and shopping crowds to rival those in the West (though the noise level is noticeably more quiet). I am not sure if the crowds are actually shopping for Christmas presents, or if they are just spending their end-of-year bonuses (just about every Japanese employee gets a substantial one every December).

Local elementary schools have requested me to be Santa again this year for their kindergarten Christmas parties (this is kinda fun, but mostly silly). Junior High Students have put up decorations on their classroom doors. We even had Christmas music pumping from the lunchroom speakers today as we ate our midday meal of udon (noodles), some kind of octopus dish, and Japanese tuna salad surprise.

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. Not so much Christmas Day, but its buildup. I detest Christmas shopping and crowded shops/streets/parking lots, and I can't say I care for the decorations and bad music either. Santa and his elves too, as fascinating as they were as a kid, now seem silly. Call me a scrooge, I dont care. But, it baffles me that Japan has embraced everything about Christmas I believe to be a hassle, while enjoying none of its specialties (family time, food, and opening/watching kids open presents by the fireplace on Christmas morn.