Open Writing

Outside, the snow is falling in fat flakes, covering the garden and the bamboo trees in a soft mantle of white.

Rene, Robyn and Bonnie are decorating our Christmas tree, a small pine tree I had purchased from the markets a few weeks ago.

Although the Japanese do not decorate Christmas trees, they are happy to sell them to the foreign families who live in Yokohama.

This is our second Christmas in Japan and we feel more at home. I have learned a smattering of Japanese and my daughters study it at school so we can communicate with our neighbours.

We live in a Japanese area of Yokohama not far from the International School which my daughters attend and within walking distance of Motomachi shopping street which is the main shopping area for Yokohama.

Earlier in the afternoon I had walked briskly through the light snow to Motomachi to buy Christmas peonies. The flower sellers came from the outer villages and were in Yokohama only for a few days before they moved into Tokyo to sell their blooms.

What a feast for my artist eyes! Blood red and pure white peonies, tiger striped tulips in yellows and red and winter chrysthanemums in beautiful shades of bronze and gold.

Yokohama was the first place I saw the magnificent spider chrysthanemums with their delicately curled petals.

Once I had filled my shopping basket I hurried home to arrange them in tall vases.

Our house was half Japanese design and half western. At the front entrance we had the traditional alcove for an Ikebana floral arrangement and this is where I displayed the peonies in a tall crystal vase. Their brilliant colours and intricate petals have always fascinated me and although I've sketched them and photographed them many times I have yet to capture their beauty to my satisfaction.

I filled a brass bowl with the bronze and gold chrysthanemums for a centrepiece for our dining table.

We had a traditional Christmas wreath on our front door but my neighbours had decorated their doors with pine branches and bamboo, signifying 'long life and happiness'.

I had exhanged Christmas gifts with my neighbours a few days ago. They had given us traditional Japanese sweetmeats individually wrapped in colourful tissue paper and presented in a black laquered box.

I had prepared small Christmas fruit cakes and some Christmas cookies which were enthusiastically received.

Christmas time is the big shopping time for the average Japanese family. Most companies pay their employees a Christmas bonus and most families head for the Ginza—the famous shopping street of central Tokyo—which has block after block of huge department stores. The decorations—huge neon-lit Santas and Christmas trees on the outside of the buildings appear early in November, coloured lights are strung across the street and Christmas carols blare out day and night.

Japanese love electronic gadgets and toys and it is difficult to resist the range available. This Christmas I just had to buy myself an automatic electric rice cooker and a coffee percolator/clock radio for my husband. By the time the clock radio had woken him up, his morning cup of coffee was ready.

Although the average Japanese family joined in the celebrations of Christmas, their big festival time is 'Golden Week', celebrated from January first to the seventh when most of the stores are closed.

This year I had remembered to stock the freezer with extra food, bread and milk.

The previous year, despite warnings from the local shopkeepers I had neglected to buy extra food so for 'Golden Week' we had to exist on rice crackers and cheese and find coffee shops and restaurants catering for tourists.

© Peggy Mitchell