- Tree goes up
- Commercial displays from as early as 1 November or mid-October in malls and stations; home trees typically go up in early-to-mid December
- Tree comes down
- Almost always by the evening of 25 December, or 26 December at the very latest
- Local superstition
- No bad-luck belief about leaving the tree up too long — the opposite pressure exists: Christmas must vanish quickly to make way for New Year (Oshogatsu) preparations, which are considered far more culturally important.
Why that date
Christmas is a secular, commercial, couples-oriented holiday in Japan (akin to Valentine’s Day) with no religious significance to the vast majority of the population; retail decorations begin very early to extend the shopping season, though home decorating is more modest and later.
What actually happens
Genuinely distinctive and opposite to nearly every other country studied: Japan takes its Christmas trees DOWN almost immediately after 25 December, sometimes the same evening, to make room for New Year kadomatsu decorations — this is the fastest take-down tradition found in this research.
Taking it down again
Almost always by the evening of 25 December, or 26 December at the very latest. No bad-luck belief about leaving the tree up too long — the opposite pressure exists: Christmas must vanish quickly to make way for New Year (Oshogatsu) preparations, which are considered far more culturally important.
If you would rather not have this argument again next year, the calendar reminder on the home page will put both dates straight into your phone.
When the answer is finally yes
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