what Christmas is REALLY like in Japan

His first Japan Christmas in 2017 featured illuminations, food stalls, smoked “turkey,” a wine- induced headache, and homesickness. He contrasts Japanese chicken/KFC-style Christmas with English turkey-or-goose meals, roast potatoes, bacon-wrapped sausages, crackers, decorations, and childhood gaming. Childhood Christmas meant planned games, stockings, early-morning excitement, family rituals, then gaming alone; Japan’s tiny tree felt incomplete.

By November 2020, he expects to stay in noisy Netherlands apartment for Christmas because its contract makes England impractical.