A Very Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas 2011 was rather quiet because we had arrived just a few days before Christmas, after the all-mission Christmas party, and during the time when the Americans stationed at Yokota AFB were mostly home in the states for Christmas.  It was very low-key, and that was all right.

This year's Christmas was more like those we've experienced at home in the past:  party, party, party!  It got off to a good start with Bishop and Sister Kanda of our Japanese ward inviting the three Sisters and us two Oldies for dinner.  Both he and his wife attended BYU over 20 years ago, so it was wonderful for us that we didn't need translators!  Although their nice apartment was devoid of any furnishings besides a dining table and chairs, a couch, and a console, what they had was very nice.  I do think their condo might be even smaller than ours!  She fixed a wonderful dinner of miniature sandwiches as an appetizer, a salad, rolls, some kind of stew as the main course, and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  Everything was top knotch!

Bishop & Sister Kanda, Sister Barbour, and Sister Stankosky

Then Monday night we met the other four Senior Missionary Couples and took the train to downtown Tokyo to see an Illumination (think "Temple Square at Christmas").  Although they light up the trees much like we do, they also light up the ground with lights that are continually changing patterns.
It was very interesting and equally pretty to view!

 

Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel room
(at our favorite "posh" military hotel, the New Sanno) 

and had a quick ramen noodle supper en route.

The next morning was an all-mission session at the Tokyo temple.  It's always so nice to be there surrounded by so many good, temple-worthy young people!  Every transfer the temple opens early and gives us two private sessions to accommodate all 180 missionaries.

Wednesday night was our English class party.  We played a couple of games of passing around a multi-wrapped package.  Each time the piano would stop, the possessor got to unwrap one layer.  Then the music would start up again, and around the circle the package would go.  The last "unwrapper" got to keep the present.  Everyone got a kick out of that.

The most fun was in taking pictures at the photo booth we set up.  Great idea from one of our daughters!

Elders Mori, Hamada, Fujinaka, Kowalski, Nakamura, Hansen and Ken
Sisters Stankosky, Vail, Barbour and Kiyomi

Three Shimai & cute Kiyomi

Three Amigos--Mori, Nakamura, & Fujinaka

Fujinaka Chourou

Okamoto-san and Sisters Vail and Barbour

One student and five missionaries

Elder Hamada, the constant cut-up

Some old people!

Saturday night was our Japanese ward Christmas party.  It started at 4 p.m. with children using fruit to decorate the cakes to be eaten as dessert later on.  From 5 until 6 we enjoyed a variety of musical numbers and also sang carols.  Then dinner was served at 6 p.m., a rice dish (obviously),
salad, and then the kid-decorated cakes.

The biggest event of all was the all-mission Christmas Conference held Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Our mission's service project was to practice and then video tape two songs to be put on YouTube.  Joy to the World has already appeared on YouTube and was sent out to all the parents of the missionaries.  Then a second set of videos is to be accessed by each of the nine stakes.  Each will contain a personalized message to that stake followed by the above song along with our awesome new mission song, United in So Great A Cause, written by Sister Budge.

Following that we did a fun white elephant exchange; and afterwards, the entire Budge family performed their service project, which was feeding all 200 of us a wonderful ham dinner!  It went amazingly well and was "bested" only by the quality of the meal--ham, baked potato, carrots, corn, croissants, salad, and a dessert of cinnamon rolls and chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies!  

We then went back into the chapel for some musical numbers and a 30-minute home movie shot by the Budge family about six years ago, "Danny Budge Is Home Alone."  It was a hoot and everyone really got a kick out of it!  We also got to pick up our stockings that Santa Budge had filled.

 Santa Budge and Elder & Sister Powell from Idaho Falls, dear friends

Santa Budge and Sister Kuwahara, one of my faves!  

She is a possible Olympic contender in the javelin throw!

We then watched as the entire Budge family (and some senior missionaries) enacted the nativity scene with some awesome costumes borrowed from the American School in Japan.   Wonderful musical numbers were interspersed throughout the enactment.  Mary (former Jana Budge) was perfect for the part

as she was eight months pregnant!)

David and Jana aka Joseph and Mary

The conference was brought to a close with missionaries sharing some of their latest miracles experienced here in Japan.  The whole conference was truly the highlight of our Christmas celebrations!

Christmas morning was fairly quick and simple as we unwrapped the few presents we had "under the tree"-- a few from home and a few from friends we've made here.  It was enjoyable to have such a quiet morning after so many days and/or nights of celebration!  Afterwards, we went to the office
and spent the afternoon there catching up on things.

All the activities made for a very wonderful Christmas.  And yet, having gotten Christmas shopping out of the way much earlier (in order to get gifts shipped home in a timely fashion) truly added to the peaceful enjoyment of the true meaning of Christmas.  The mission's focus for the last six weeks has been "What Shall I Give (Christ) for Christmas?"  I really liked that focus in contrast to the ever-so-common question, "What did you get for Christmas?"  This Christmas will remain in our memories forever as a very special one--one spent with a great many very, very special people whom we've come to know and love here in Japan!

KFC for Christmas!

THE COLONEL IS READY FOR A CLOSE-UP    © TWPhoto/Corbis

(I'm not the author of this great article, but I felt I couldn't pass up including it in my blog.)

It’s Christmas Eve in Japan. Little boys and girls pull on their coats, the twinkle of anticipation in their eyes. Keeping the tradition alive, they will trek with their families to feast at … 

the popular American fast food chain KFC.

Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan—only one percent of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian—yet a bucket of “Christmas Chicken” (the next best thing to turkey—a meat you can’t find anywhere in Japan) is the go-to meal on the big day. And it’s all thanks to the insanely successful “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” (Kentucky for Christmas!) marketing campaign in 1974.

When a group of foreigners couldn’t find turkey on Christmas day and opted for fried chicken instead, the company saw this as a prime commercial opportunity and launched its first Christmas meal that year: Chicken and wine for2,920 yen($10)—pretty pricey for the mid-seventies. Today the christmas chicken dinner (which now boasts cake and champagne) goes for about 3,336 yen ($40).  And the people come in droves. Many order their boxes of ”finger lickin’” holiday cheer months in advance to avoid the lines—some as long as two hours.

The first KFC Japan opened in Nagoya in 1970 and quickly gained popularity. (There are now over 15,000 KFC outlets in 105 countries and territories around the world.) That same year, at the World Exposition in Osaka, KFC and other American fast food chains like McDonald’s were met with great market testing results and helped jump start the westernized “fast food” movement in Japan. After the big commercial push in ’74, the catchphrase “Christmas=Kentucky” paired with plenty of commercials on TV caught on.

The “Americanness” and simplicity of the message rather than any religious associations with the holiday is what makes it appealing. The Financial Times reports:

“Japan is well known for taking foreign products and ideas and adapting them to suit domestic taste, and Christmas is no exception. A highly commercialized and non-religious affair, lots of money is spent annually on decorations, dinners and gifts. KFC is arguably the biggest contributor, thanks in part to its advertising campaign.

‘One of the reasons the campaign lasted so long is that the message is always the same: at Christmas you eat chicken,’ said Yasuyuki Katagi, executive director at Ogilvy and Mather Japan, the advertising agency.”

These days, KFC records its highest sales volume each year on Christmas eve. Back office staff, presidents and execs come out to help move the lines along. Fried chicken and Christmas have become synonymous: KFC’s advertisements feature major pop cultural figures chomping on drumsticks, the company website even has a countdown until Christmas.  And this year, the company launched a campaign that takes the holiday hype to new heights. From December 1 through February 28 passengers on select trips between Tokyo and eight U.S. and European destinations can enjoy KFC in-flight.

But Japan’s love of American fast food does not dim with the Christmas lights once December 25 has come and gone—KFC’s ability to take it’s traditional foods and adapt them to Japanese culture has made a bucket of chicken a meal worth having year round. This April, they opened a three-story restaurant at the south entrance of Shimokitazawa station in Tokyo which offers the company’s first-ever, fully stocked whiskey bar—what their website says gives visitors a taste of “Good ‘ole America.” 

Though, if you ever find yourself in Japan and not in the mood for fried chicken, Wendy’s Japan offers a $16 foie-gras-and-truffle burger.