Merry Christmas from Japan! It seems like this year Christmas decorations were more common to see in Japan (atleast in stores and company buildings). Many stores put up Christmas Trees this year with lights and decorations. However the meaning of these Christmas decorations in Japan is not the same as in other countries. Japanese have adapted only half of the celebrations from the west, the commercial half. Yes you may have noticed I said that stores were decorated more with Christmas decorations but it is pretty rare to see a house or home with any Christmas decorations put up. Thus all of these Christmas decorations are only put up in the spirit of buying presents for yourself since giving presents to family is not common either on Christmas. The other side of celebration on Christmas in Japan is for couples. Christmas in Japan is a sort of Valentine's Day for couples only bigger. However the celebration only extends to unmarried couples after marriage the Christmas celebration is no longer performed it seems. Patrick Macias mentions on his blog some of the strange ways for couples to celebrate for Christmas. Oh yes and don't forget for those of you that work in Japan Christmas Day is just a regular work day when it falls on a week day as Christmas did this year falling on a Monday. So I had work today. This is my 3rd Christmas in Japan and I'm still not used to the differences of Christmas celebration.

On a positive note I did manage to get a Wii on Christmas Day this morning. =) I figured that it was Christmas Day and I still didn't find a Wii so I would look for one on Christmas morning in Akihabara. I left the apartment this morning heading to Akihabara and sent a message to work from my mobile phone letting them know I would be late. I arrived in Akihabara alittle before 10 AM when most of the shops open. I took a quick stroll around the different shops seeing if any had removed the signs stating that the Wii was sold out. At 10 AM when the stores first opened I quickly walked from store to store asking if they had any Wiis. Usually the answer is "nai desu" meaning they have none. But I got lucky and found a gaming store that had some Wiis in stock! I was one of the first customers in the store and the first customer to buy a Wii from them this morning. =) Along with my Wii I bought Wii Sports and an extra Nunchuk (since the Wii does not come packaged with a game in Japan). The store had run out of Wii remotes but had the game that included a Wii remote in the package however I didn't want that game so I decided to look in other stores for a Wii remote. Sure enough the next store I walked into had Wii remotes I bought one there and also bought Elebits there. =) Then my Wii set was complete: the Wii box package (that comes with the system, 1 Wii nunchuk, 1 Wii remote, sensor bar, AV cables, and power cords), Wii Sports, Elebits, 1 extra Wii nunchuk, and 1 extra Wii remote (then I could play 2 players). I left Akihabara and brought my new Wii and games back to my apartment, placed them under the Christmas Tree, then headed to the office to work. I had to patiently wait until after work to unpack and play the Wii but it was definitely worth the wait. The games are awesome (Wii Sports and Elebits) and the new controller is amazing. The new controller makes the games much more immersive. Photos of me setting up the Wii and Wii gameplay are posted on my Flickr account under the Wii tag and videos are posted on Jumpcut tagged with Wii.
-- LonelyBob

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