It’s Easter this weekend. I’m expecting some chocolate from the UK in the post any day now.
But one thing intrigues me. Why isn’t Easter bigger in Japan?
Looking at it superficially, the answer is obvious. Easter is a Christian festival, and Japan isn’t a Christian country. But just look at Valentine’s Day, admittedly not particularly Christian. It’s huge in Japan, perhaps even more so than in the Western countries where it originated.
And then there’s Hallowe’en. There might not be so much trick-or-treating or dressing up, but there are whole shelves of Hallowe’en chocolate and sweets on sale in the supermarket in the weeks before the end of October.
On the face of it, Easter should be a perfect festival for Japan: it has chocolate, and it has the all-important kawaii factor in the form of cute Easter rabbits. It should be up there with Christmas as a major Western day absorbed into Japanese culture.
And yet each year, Easter passes basically unnoticed in Japan. I wonder why?