Christmas Memories in Japan
by Louise Claspill
married. We acquired or started a number of traditions quite unknowingly. When I was young the tree was trimmed Christmas Eve, after my bedtime. We decided to do the same with our first child. Seeing the surprise on their faces in the morning started out Christmas, in a warm fuzzy way. We did this for a long time until the parents couldn't take the 2am bedtime and four hours sleep. The door to the Christmas tree room remained closed until everyone had breakfast, no dilly dallying there. The door opened and their eyes had to adjust to sparkling lights, shining tinsel and multitudes of wrapped gifts. Some too big to be wrapped, the doll cradle, the bicycle tucked way in the back. One year stands out vividly. We were stationed in Japan, living in a two-story house, no doors to close downstairs. A pilot friend was stranded in Tokyo for the holiday and asked if he could spend it with us. I took a tray of orange juice, toast and rolls upstairs for breakfast. Our pilot friend picked up the string of sleigh bells and we all went flying down the stairs to oh and ah as the lights came into sight. The children had all been certain that this would be the most horrible Christmas. But even Origami cranes and birds didn't lessen the magic. Our Christmases started out with only family. Early on we said that we would always reserve one chair for a stranger. We might find a serviceman at the Christmas Eve service or' my husband might find a lonesome boy at the base. However the dinner with our pilot friend stands out. My husband invited three lonely boys from Yokuska Navy Base. It wasn't too warm a day but in the midst of the meal the Pilot got up and opened a window. Then he got a glass of water for a deathly pale young man. The boy said the he looked at the turkey being carved at the table and thought of his folks at home the first time he had ever been away. Our Japanese tour of duty found us having English conversation once weekly for University students from Tokyo. We decided to turn one December date into a Christmas party. I ordered some food from the States to have a buffet. The Chaplain and his family joined our party but due to Navy rules, religion was not to be discussed. In our family, the wonderful day was not celebrated unless we recognized the Savior's birth. Therefore, we put red candles on the coffee table along with a Hakata doll manger scene that included a chicken; no one knew why. Hakata dolls are Japanese figures made from clay. As the candles were lit each child read a portion of the Gospels. The buffet table had many things they had not eaten before, among them dates and olives. Olives, ugh! Dates! The young women put their hands over their mouths and giggled, "Dates? Can't be, only boy-girl dates!" |
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