Christmas in Kobe

We've been in Japan for over four months now, and we've reached the point where the words 'roast chicken' can induce at the very least a glassy expression accompanied by wistful foody reverie, and at worst mild catatonia. With seemingly every cultural dish under the sun within a half-mile radius of where we live, we just cannot manage to track down a good, old-fashioned English roast.

Our friends have employed search engines, scoured phone books and even e-mailed the British embassy (which was very sweet of Chikako - thank you!) and the best they could turn up was an '007 Evening' in Osaka, some 30 minutes away on a very fast train. Such, it would seem, is the general disdain held for English food in these parts.

So Christmas dinner for the Wises this year was beef teppanyaki on the 6th floor of a building in downtown Sannomiya. With nary a gravy boat or brussel sprout in sight.

Christmas in Kobe is pretty much like any other day in Kobe. Which is pretty weird from a Western point of view. ALL the shops are open, most of them selling the Japanese version of 'Karisumusu Cako' - a relatively lightweight little number made of sponge cake and cream and topped with strawberries.

What is even more strange is the almost digital way in which Christmas just disappears. By Boxing Day all semblance of festivities - merchandise, decorations, great swathes of blue LED lights (make a note that they will be in your shops next year - the future may be bright, but the future is blue, not orange...), even the bloody cakes, all just disappear into thin air, to be replaced by New Year celebratory items of a more oriental flavour.

Not that Jack was particularly phased by any of this general strangeness. He took his second Christmas in his stride, wondering what all the fuss was about...

COMING SOON! It's been commented on that Jack hasn't featured too much on this blog, so over the upcoming holiday (yes, we do get one, eventually...) I will put together a Jack Special and introduce you all to... Anpan Man! (to be continued..)