復活祭はなぜ 4… Why not Easter 4…

復活祭[ふっかつさい]はなぜ日本で知られていないか-もう1つの理由[りゆう]は、贈[おく]り物[もの](= gift)の習慣[しゅうかん](= custom)だと思います。

日本には贈り物をする習慣がたくさんあります。伝統[でんとう][てき]な(= traditional)習慣もあれば、外国から入った比較[ひかく][てき](= relatively)新[あたら]しい習慣もあります。例えば、バレンタインデーのチョコレートをあげる習慣は新しい習慣です。新しい習慣も、日本人のメンタリティーにあえば、定着[ていちゃく]しやすい(= to establish easily)でしょう。

復活祭には贈り物の習慣はありません。キリスト教の行事[ぎょうじ]、クリスマスは、贈り物の習慣があります。だから、クリスマスは日本のメンタリティーにあって定着したような気がします。どうでしょうか。

Why Easter is not so established – another reason I came up with is something to do with gift-giving culture.

There are so many gift-giving custom in Japan; some of them started a long time ago and some others were recently imported from overseas. Chocolate-giving custom on Valentines day, for example, is one of the newer ones. It would not be so hard to spread around, I guess, if a custom would suit Japanese people's mentality.

Christmas, another important day in Christianity, is now part of Japanese culture perhaps owing to its gift-giving custom… Easter does not have this element; this could be one of the reasons Easter is not so much taken by Japanese people… What do you think?

2 thoughts on “復活祭はなぜ 4… Why not Easter 4…”

  • Now I understand!
    Recently some shops have started to sell chocolate eggs or bunnies for Easter. We Japanese like to exchange gifts on anniversaries,so some people must have thought that if they sold something sweet and special for Easter, people would buy them and start to enjoy Easter. And then they can make a fortune!

  • Fumiko Nishimura says:

    Yes, they can! Easter is supposed to be a very important day for Christians and indeed it is for many people. However in New Zealand, it is heavily commercialised as well. I do not think people in New Zealand would buy those specially made Easter chocolates for giving to others, but certainly they buy them and share them with family and friends. Japanese people definitely have got a taste of chocolate; so one day you might see chocolate everywhere in Japan around the Easter time…

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