Comments | mbarker: FILL: Lost in translation?

mbarker

FILL: Lost in translation?

Dec 23, 2010 11:29

I think I missed something. Today is a holiday here in Japan (the Emperor's Birthday), and the morning show on TV was doing some Christmas stuff. The one that caught my attention was supposedly a ranking by 200 Japanese of Christmas movies. I have to admit, I missed exactly how they posed the question, because... well, let me tell you what they had ( Read more... )

tv, movies, japan

Comments 5

saruby December 23 2010, 04:15:43 UTC

Well, in terms of traditional Christmas movies, it has to be "Miracle on 34th Street (the original with Natalie Wood). But if you broaden the field a bit, I would choose "Love, Actually", which is probably not technically a Christmas movie, but is both a delightful film and decidely Christmas-y in its own way. After that, probably "Elf". Maybe they think Christmas movie means a movie that has something about Christmas in it. Which would not really qualify here, but might in a place where most people aren't Christian and celebrate Christmas as a purely secular holiday (rather than a cleverly disguised secular holiday).

Happy Christmas!

mbarker December 23 2010, 09:34:09 UTC

True -- that's why I wish I knew how they posed the question. But Die Hard? Ah, well. Yeah, a holiday that is borrowed and built heavily on the consumer side is a bit different from a religious backed one. But Japan has so much fun with it!

saruby December 23 2010, 15:43:22 UTC

Japan is more honest about it. That may be why they have such fun with it. I bet you don't see a lot of cars with bumperstickers that say "Put Christ back in Christmas".

I like to think of Christmas as a joyful celebration of winter and solstice, but I'm not really Christian. OTOH, I love Christmas carols. The really old religious ones. It's a music thing.

mbarker December 24 2010, 01:35:26 UTC

Works for me. One of the shows looked at the Akasaka Prince Hotel chef -- apparently the Akasaka Prince Hotel is closing this year, and this will be their last Christmas. Anyway, it turns out that for several years, along with everything else, he has run a special Christmas cookie baking program for kids, using the hotel kitchens. The kids come in, and he guides them in baking cookies.

BUT the cookies aren't for the kids! No, the kids bag them, and then take them to a nearby retirement home, where they give them to the old folks. Very heart-warming, and a great Christmas program, even without the "Christian" side.

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mbarker December 24 2010, 01:29:19 UTC

I do remember Edward doing an ice sculpture?

This morning, one of the news shows asked the panel what DVD they would be watching for Christmas. One of the younger women said, "It's A Wonderful Life." The guy said "Toy Story 3." And I've forgotten what the last one said. Of course, I had to ask my wife if we were going to watch a DVD for Christmas. I hadn't realized that this is customary.

She just laughed at me. I guess we're not terribly bound by custom. Oh, well.