Japan is known to be one of the least religious countries on earth. (Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon)
It may not be a public holiday in Japan, but Christmas there is big business.
Quirky seasonal customs take place in people's homes across the country, while city squares host elaborate Christmas displays.
So, how does Japan actually celebrate Christmas?
And why in such a secular, non-Western country has it become a popular holiday?
Christmas is a marketing bonanza in Japan. (Supplied: 7 Eleven Japan)
KFC and sponge cake
Fried chicken was marketed by KFC Japan as the perfect Christmas food in the 1970s — and it stuck.
Urban legend, perpetuated by KFC, held that Westerners unable to source turkey in Japan instead settled for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Colonel Sanders spends Christmastime in Japan dressed up as Santa Claus. (Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon)
"Since a 1974 ad campaign called 'Kentucky for Christmas', many Japanese have turned up in long queues outside KFC," said Sydney woman Nozomi Ohike, who grew up in Japan.
"During Christmas time, Colonel Sanders is more popular than Santa Claus."
KFC Japan estimates that 3 to 4 million families eat its chicken for Christmas each year.
The lead-up to December 25 has become the company's largest sales week.
Melbourne-based wedding planner Aya Otsuki Nichols grew up celebrating Christmas with her family in the city of Okayama.
Aya Otsuki Nichols brings inari, gyoza and other Japanese dishes to her family Christmas in Melbourne. (Supplied)
Ms Nichols said eating fried chicken on Christmas made sense given most Japanese people did not have ovens to roast turkey, pork or other meats.
And many people book KFC buckets four to six weeks in advance of Christmas, she said.
The other important food item associated with Christmas in Japan is cake.
Not the dense, alcohol-infused fruit cakes popular in the West, however, but rather light sponge cakes festively decorated with strawberries and whipped cream.
A tradition that began in the early 20th century and gained widespread popularity after World War II, the red and white colour palette of the cakes are reminiscent of the Japanese flag.
Given emojis first entered common use in Japan, the Japanese Christmas cake even has two emojis dedicated to it.
A diver swims with a Christmas cake-shaped decoration at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo. (Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon/File)
Ayaka Fujita, originally from Tokyo, runs a cake shop on the Sunshine Coast.
As a child, Ms Fujita ate strawberry shortcake "every year" on Christmas — a tradition kept alive in Queensland where she sometimes brings Japanese-style cake for her Australian family's gathering.
"Everybody who grew up in Japan, on Christmas Day we always have strawberry shortcake," she said.
Sunshine Coast baker Ayaka Fujita with her Christmas cake. (Supplied)
"It's not a religious day for us … on the 25th morning, we always have presents.
"Food and cakes are usually on the night of the 24th."
The origins of Japanese Christmas
Christianity first arrived in Japan in the 1500s when Portuguese Catholic missionaries arrived in the archipelago.
Its adherents were soon subject to severe persecution and Christianity would be banned for some 250 years.
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From the late 19th century, however, Japan's department stores began to import ornaments and decorations, explained the University of Queensland's Dr Natsuko Akagawa, who grew up celebrating Christmas in the city of Kobe.
"In the postwar period, with the rapid economic boom, is really the time when people start celebrating Christmas."
Today, there are less than 2 million Christians in Japan who account for just over 1 per cent of the population — and Japan is known to be one of the least religious countries on earth.
A Gallup survey conducted in 2022 found that just 20 per cent of Japanese people said they believed in god, the lowest of any country surveyed.
Christmas is thus largely a secular occasion more associated with Santa Claus and reindeer than the birth of Jesus Christ.
When Ms Nichols was a child, her mother would purchase chicken Maryland with teriyaki sauce from the supermarket and Santa Claus would deliver presents to her classmates at kindergarten.
Ms Nichols' kindergarten in Okayama, Japan celebrates Christmas. (Supplied)
But she said that until now she did not fully understand the Christian origins of the holiday.
"Japanese people celebrate anything," Ms Nichols said.
"It's like Halloween. Everybody just wants an excuse for a party [and] decorating the Christmas tree."
Christmas decorations light up cities across Japan during the winter months. (Reuters: Androniki Christodoulou)
Christmas is for lovers
The nativity story might not feature prominently, but Christmas in Japan is still associated with hope and love.
For many young people, it has become the equivalent of Valentine's Day.
Young people associate Christmas with going on dates and staying at fancy hotels. (AP: Hiro Komae)
As the snow falls and Christmas lights illuminate city squares, singles rush to be paired up for dates and book fancy hotels on Christmas Eve.
"You wouldn't want to be seen eating alone," said Sally Mizoshiri, a Sydney-based Japanese language teacher whose husband is from Japan.
"Young, single people would hope to be taken out on Christmas Eve by somebody."
But this was slowly changing, Ms Mizoshiri said, explaining that young people were challenging the long-held stigma around doing activities alone.
Some Japanese businesses are promoting spending Christmas alone. (Supplied: OZmall)
When Ms Nichols and her Australian husband Wayne started dating, she prepared a perfect Japanese Christmas spread.
He was "shocked" when presented with KFC chicken, strawberry shortcake and a poinsettia — red-leaved plants often used in Japanese Christmas displays.
"Australian Christmas is like Japanese New Year — family time, the longest holiday," Ms Nichols said.
Christmas in Japan is a time for presents, music, food and fun. (Reuters: Kim Kyung-Hoon)
Indeed, Japan's most important holiday is the New Year.
It's a time when the hardworking country shuts down for a full three days to spend time with their families.
Christmas in Japan is simply "associated with having a happy time", Dr Akagawa said.
"It was really my parents wanting their children to have a happy childhood."
