Why Doesn’t Japan Celebrate Easter?

So why not Easter?

Bearing in mind that Japan celebrates these Western festivals (albeit in a secularised and localised fashion), why is Easter, one of the most important festivals in the West, rather unknown to the Japanese? I was actually very surprised by how little attention Easter gets compared to the above festivals when I lived in Japan.  The only place I found anything resembling Easter eggs was a specialist store importing Western chocolates, and even then they consisted of little more than square pieces of chocolate with pictures of chicks and rabbits on the wrappers – not even shaped like an egg. I was especially surprised because, unlike the other three festivals above which simply take on Japanese pronunciations of their  original English names, the word “Easter” even has its own Japanese name – Fukkatsusai (復活祭), meaning “rebirth festival.” So where were all the Easter eggs?

The Japanese version of Wikipedia has some interesting insight on Japan’s relationship with Easter…

“Easter was previously not well known in Japan, but since the 2010s events and product launches incorporating elements of Easter have started appearing throughout the business world. Since 2010 Tokyo Disneyland has been holding a “Disney Easter Wonderland” (or “Disney Easter” as it was renamed in 2014) as an April-June event, while Baskin-Robbins has been selling limited edition products for Easter since 2011. Additionally, with department stores and confectionery makers getting on the Easter bandwagon since 2015, there has been some speculation as to whether Easter will become the “number 4″ event after Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween. However, Japan is not a Christian country, and like these other events it loses many of its religious overtones. What’s more, compared with Halloween which falls at the end of October when there aren’t many seasonal events, Easter occurs at the same time as the cherry blossom-viewing festivals and school graduation and matriculation ceremonies; and unlike Christmas, Valentine’s Day or Halloween, the date of Easter changes every year, so it is not easy to say whether this festival will catch on.”
(From Wikipedia, 『復活祭』[Fukkatsusai], translation by author)

It would appear that the abundance of Japanese holidays and seasonal events around the same time as Easter, coupled by its moveable date, has limited the appeal of Easter in Japan up to now. Nevertheless, as the Wikipedia article mentions, there is evidence that awareness of Easter is growing in Japan – even if only in a commercial capacity at present.

What might please Pagans is that, if Christmas in Japan is anything to go by, the Japanese probably wouldn’t adopt the Christian elements of Easter, but rather the old secular and Pagan elements of the festival – in other words, the symbols that Pagans associate with Ostara. Indeed, these already seem to have appeal in Japan: Giving confectionery as gifts, use of cheerful pastel colours, and the abundance of nature symbolism (especially cute animals). Don’t be surprised if in the future, Japan ends up celebrating its Fukkatsusai as something more closely resembling Ostara than Easter.

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References and Further Reading

Dougill, John. Green Shinto, “Halloween on the rise.”

Japan National Tourist Organisation, “Valentine’s Day & White Day In Japan”

Wikipedia, “Christianity in Japan,” 復活祭