Evening star., 1935-12-22
By Violet Sweet Haven.

HI
gram of wholesale expansion,
has adopted the commercial
~ aspects of the American Christ
mas to stimulate her domestic trade.
During the Yuletide period a visitor
from the United States may stroll
down the main business streets OF
Toxic and fancy himself walking along
r street, Michigan boulevard, Fifth
avenue or Market street in his home
land
Holly wreaths and figures Of Santa
Claus adorn the shop windows. Fir
trees decorated with tinsel and cotton
balls line the streets and fill depart
ment stores with Christmas cheer
Tinseled Xmas" signs, carefully
carved in English letters. are suspend
ed over sidewalks as hurrying throngs
of excited, kimono-clad japanese go
in and out of shops carrying gift
packages carefully wrapped in holly
paper.
While the Japanese merchants
needed nothing more than Santa
Claus and effective sales managers to
put over the Christmas idea, in 1926
December Is became a legal holiday
On Christmas of that year Emperor
Taisho, father of the present Emperor
Hirohito, passed away and the day
was Immediately proclaimed national
holiday in his honor.
However. Christmas is included in
the Japanese calendar on its own
merits, as an annual period Of re-
joicing for children. While originally
considered a foreign innovation, it is
now an important season to all Jap
anese living in the cities.
At Christmas time the grandeSt
spectacle in all Japan is the bril-
iiantly lighted fir tree in each large
department store The huge tree
stands in the center of the vast ro-
tunda-a blaze of glory-and stretches
its branches to the ceiling hundred
feet or more above. From the base
TO the tip-top of the tree every branch
glows with twinkling lights, tinsel,
cotton balls, fruit, candies, toys and
nuts.
VISITORS crowd the store to watch
~ Jolly old -whiskered Santa
Claus, dressed in his bright red suit,
as he smiles and dances about under
the low-hanging branches. Although
at heart he is the American Santa,
this masqueraded Oriental lacks the
rotundity and stature of our jolly old
saint. But these inconsequential de-
tails matter little to the japanese
parents who smilingly buy Xmas"
gifts to give their small sons and
daughters.
On each balcony-like floor of the de-
partment store the Japanese gather
to admire the gorgeous sight. BY
leaning over the railings the custo-
mers can touch the branches of the
Christmas tree as they watch the mill
ing throngs in the rotunda below.
Above the mammoth tree tapers gently
into a point crowned with a glittering
star.
1t has been said that the Japanese
adopt, adapt and become adept. Ger
tainly this is manifest in the way they
have modelled their department stores
after those in America and seized
upon the Christmas holiday to en-
nance their seasonal trade. Early in
the history of the japanese depart
ment store, owners sent staff men,
bers to the United States to study
general methods, sales trends and
merchandising. For many years 1t
had been the custom Of the Yokohama
Foreign Trade Association to send Sc
70 Oh m
In touch with similar organizations
and trade activities, but only since the
1923 earthquake did the merchants
become interested in American de-
partment stores. After studying the
surface facts of wholesale marketing.
they eagerly sought the reason behind
the fascinating peak of Americas De-
cember sales.
So they sent observing tradesmen
70 the United States to find out why
so much retail business was done dur
ing that one month Of the year. Dur
ing the Yuletide season these envoys
visited the stores, took copious notes,
attended conferences and went on
long tours of observation. To their
amazement, they found that in De-
cember American store sales scared to
haights unhead of in Japan.
THESE japanese observers watched
- the crowds that swarmed into our
department stores to see the funny
little white -whiskered man in a red
play suit. They heard him called
''Santa Claus" Sometimes he was
portrayed in cardboard. Frequently
he was q real man dressed in bright
regalia, who gave packages to the kid
dies. This struck the fancy Of the
visiting note-takers, as children are
popular in Japan.
While in the United States they
Hazed with awe and wonder at tea
rooms. plate-glass windows, marble
pillars, thick carpets, silken draperies,
escalatorS and morning coated floor
walkers in the great department stores.
They also saw that some stores even
possessed parquet floors, shiny show
casesF and living models. All these
things went down In the little black
Lite books.
Into the same pages went the facts
that green fir trees were decorated
with shiny balls and electric lights,
tinsel was entwined in the chandeliers
and holly wreaths were fastened in
theapdoorwalkers' neckties. Although
they did not understand the images