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'Tis the season! From KFC in Japan to Caganers in Catalonia – how Christmas is celebrated around the world 'Tis the season! From KFC in Japan to Caganers in Catalonia – how Christmas is celebrated around the world
(about 17 hours later)
Will you be in Japan this Christmas? Then prepare to eat fried chicken. Or in Germany? Tell your children to put their shoes out, not stockings. How about Norway? Hide the brooms.Will you be in Japan this Christmas? Then prepare to eat fried chicken. Or in Germany? Tell your children to put their shoes out, not stockings. How about Norway? Hide the brooms.
That’s right, while here in the UK we find our Christmas traditions of putting stockings at the end of our beds; leaving out brandy for Santa and carrots for reindeer, and stuffing our faces with chocolate coins are considered the norm, our rituals will appear just as strange to other nations as theirs do to us. Christmas is generally considered a time for giving presents and eating to excess, but dig a little deeper and there are some quirky - and downright weird - traditions around the world.
For in Japan, where Christmas has not existed as a religious tradition on a large scale but more as a commercial one, they eat KFC on Christmas day due to the success of a 1974 advertising campaign that has now become lore. The UK's obsession with consuming mince pies leaves many baffled – if only for their lack of mince. As does the tradition of stirring the Christmas pudding mix in clockwise direction in order to make your wishes come true.
In Catalonia, nativity scenes are decorated with an additional character called a Caganer, who crouches in the straw with his pants around his ankles as he defecates on the ground. It is supposed to symbolise fertilisation. In Japan, Christmas has become a largely commercial celebration - and nothing says Christmas quite like a KFC. The mass popularity of the fast-food chain is down to a canny advertising campaign in 1974 and sales for the three days around 25 December can be equivalent to half the company's normal monthly sales.
And for those already familiar with Black Pete, they will recognise the Dutch character, who is traditionally represented by a white person in blackface, which many outside of Holland consider offensive. In Catalonia, nativity scenes are decorated with an additional character called a Caganer, who crouches in the straw with his pants around his ankles as he defecates on the ground. And in Holland, the controversial "Black Pete" celebration, in which a white person with a blacked-up face dishes out sweets to children, remains hugely popular, despite international criticism.
Check out our gallery above for some more weird and wonderful seasonal traditions.