What Do Christmas And Japanese New Year Have In Common?

3. Making Sweets

It’s popular in many households to make and eat sweets on the run-up towards Christmas/Yule, including cookies, gingerbread men, candy canes, mince pies and of course Christmas Pudding. Making sweets for New Year is popular in Japan too, the most prominent being mochi rice cakes. One difference is that the mochi is often put out as an offering to the kami before it is eaten. This is rarely done in non-Pagan households in the West – except, interestingly, by children leaving out mince pies for Father Christmas!