J-Boys by Shogo Oketani

Author:Shogo Oketani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
Published: 2011-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

Christmas and Report Cards

Kazuo did not like to study. He did his homework because he had to not once had he ever wished to study more on his own. If he had extra time, he would much rather use it to play with his friends in the empty lot, or read comics, or watch TV.

Of course, he had privately vowed to study harder when the owner of Yoshino’s Tofu Shop died, but that had not led to anything lasting. Kazuo knew that he wasn’t putting as much effort into his schoolwork as he could, so when the end of fall term and report card day came on December 25, Christmas Day, he felt doomed from the moment he woke up.

Kazuo knew from TV and magazines that Christmas was the day Jesus Christ was born He knew that in America and Europe, people put up Christmas trees and ate whole roasted turkey, and that children opened presents in front of glowing fireplaces.

Kazuo knew this, but he had never experienced it. At his house, they never put up a Christmas tree, or ate a whole roasted turkey.

“Japanese people have New Year’s. Surely that’s enough.” This was Kazuo’s mother’s explanation for why they didn’t celebrate Christmas. Of course, when she put it that way, Kazuo had to agree. He had never been to church, or offered thanks to Jesus Christ before a meal, like the families did at supper on TV Westerns. He did not think of Jesus Christ’s birthday as a reason to feel particularly grateful.

Then again, Christmas seemed much more stylish than New Year’s, and Kazuo couldn’t help finding everything about it more impressive. Compared with New Year’s pine decorations, Christmas trees were far more splendid and eye-catching. And next to rice-dumpling soup and the salty-sweet dishes that were stored in lacquer boxes for New Year’s, a whole turkey or chicken roasted to a tantalizing light brown seemed much more appetizing.

Of course, nobody in Kazuo’s neighborhood actually put up a Christmas tree and celebrated the holiday like people did on American TV shows. The stores in the shopping area played Christmas songs nonstop, but the only ones with Christmas trees were the cake shop, Mimasu Sweets, and the toy shop, Tanaka. Then there was Takahashi Meats, owned by Nobuo’s family, which sold specially roasted chicken thighs on Christmas Day only.

So Kazuo’s Christmas celebration consisted almost entirely of eating a slice of Christmas cake, purchased by one of his parents, after dinner on December 25. And most of the pleasure from that had already been ruined by the handing out of report cards earlier in the day.

Christmas cake: A sponge cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries and sometimes choc­olates or other fruit. It is usually eaten on Christmas Eve. Only a very small percentage of Japanese are Christian, but Japanese people enjoy many Christmas customs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.