I was thinking about Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers earlier today, and I wondered if there are very many other Christmas-themed movies from Japan (or anywhere else in Asia). I would imagine that Christmas isn't a major holiday in Japan (I know that some people in Japan celebrate the secular version of Christmas, I don't know how widespread that is), so the rather prominent Christmas theme of Tokyo Godfathers seems a little unusual (even though there is plenty of anime that utilizes Christian themes/symbolism). Can anyone think of other movies from Japan/Hong Kong/Korea/wherever else that are Christmas-themed in any way (even if they're not "Christmas movies" per se)?

I think that Christmas stories may be more common in Anime than in live action Japanese/Asian films. I came up with three (though two are TV episodes and another is an OVA):

"Love Hina Christmas Special" - Love Hina
"Sakura's Wonderful Christmas" - Cardcaptor Sakura
"White Christmas" - The Irresponsible Captain Tylor

It might be that Christmas themes show up more often on TV shows in Asia. Unfortunately the dire lack of any subtitled (Japanese/Chinese/Korean) TV shows in the US market (Trick/Mr. Vampire TV would be a good start) makes this hard to verify.

I think at the last scene of SPACE TRAVELLERS was at Christmas, but it was not part of the movie (assuming I'm even remembering right). MY LIFE AS MCDULL may have had a section during Christmas (the turkey thing?).

Hello,

Two comments, one on East Asian Christmas films and one on _Trick_, which is one of my favourite recent doromas.

The South Korean movie "Happy Naked Christmas" starring Cha Tae-hyun (he of "My Sassy Girl" fame) and Kim Seon-ah (the female teacher of everybody's affections in "Wet Dreams") is a ribald holiday diversion.

See:
http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/...-videos/code-k/

Be sure to watch the closing credits for the conclusion of the film within the film, that is, the adult movie "Happy SeX-Mas" that gives "Naked Christmas" its randy title and some of its comedic hijinks.

As for _Trick_, the first two installments have been broadcasted on terrestial TV in the United States in both the southern California area and in Hawaii with English subtitles. _Trick 2_ is also on DVD with English subs (Unique R0) as is the theatrical movie (Universe R3), which follows the events in that second season.

Lots of Hong Kong directors are sentiment-lovin' fools and what could be better than the world's most saccharine holiday? Christmas is all over the place in HK movies mostly because of the ease with which you can deploy it as ironic counterpoint (CITY ON FIRE) or banal teary moment. The two that spring immediately to mind are CITY ON FIRE and the turkey segment in MY LIFE AS MCDULL. The recent ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK takes place during Xmas, and there's a great Xmas bit during PRISON ON FIRE.

Back in 1979, the Japan Society (NYC) showed a Japanese film called BLUE CHRISTMAS (1978) directed by Kihachi Okamoto (SWORD OF DOOM) and starring Tatsuya Nakadai (also SWORD OF DOOM). It was a sci-fi film about aliens inflitrating the population. They looked human but had blue blood (i.e. when they bled, the blood that came out was blue) and society embarks on a campaign of terror against them. The negative review on IMDB remembers the plot differently than I do, although we could BOTH be wrong. I remember a scene shot in New York where Nakadai, speaking English, questions assorted New Yorkers about something. I don't remember what the Christmas connection was, but I'm sure it was there.

Also, another anime series with a Christmas special was "Ranma 1/2." I'm sure I've seen a million others. "Pokemon" had a Christmas themed episode and I'm sure "Sailor Moon" did too. I'm sure I've seen a space series that had a Christmas theme in it at one point.

Although it's aggressively sentimental, I was charmed by "Ghost Soup," which revolves around Christmas.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382048/

Hello,

Just for clarafication with my previous post, "Happy Naked Chirstmas" (the English name given on Korean retailer sites; "Happy Ero Christmas" on other sites) is not an X-rated or adult movie. I don't know if it has ever been released outside of the pennisula, but it would probably be rated 12 (UK), IIb (HK), or PG-13 (US) for adult situations (as implied by the title) and violence (the movie is a partial send up of Korean gangster movies and the tropes of that world.)

There's no visible sex or nudity in the proceedings. Moreoever, the adult film that's being made in the movie is just a plot device used to introduce comedy, e.g. the main characters are trying to converse with one another about the state of their relationship in a public park or someplace equally pedestrian but they keep on getting distracted because there's a film crew shooting an "unconventional" scene just an ear's shot away.

A significant portion of Jun Ichikawa's "Tokyo Marigold" takes place during Christmastime, but Christmas (music and decorations, etc) is just part of the overall environment -- not a focal issue.

Michael Kerpan

There's a Japanese Christmas-themed movie called "Love Has Fallen." I haven't seen it -- I just read about it on the IMDB when I was looking to see what else Toshiaki Karasawa had been in. Apparently he plays the spirit of this guy in a coma who has to make a lonely girl happy by Christmas, or he can't go back into his body.

In keeping with this theme, last night I laid down and watched five tapes I have of Japanese animated adaptations of "Little Women." (All are English-dubbed tapes I picked up in used video bins over the years.) Three of the five are specifically Christmas-related, while a fourth includes the same Christmas incidents as part of a longer adaptation of the novel. So basically I saw the same Christmas scenes from the novel done three different times with only slight variations in style. For the record, they were produced in 1980, '81 and '87. Now I have to read the book, or at least the first couple of chapters, from which these incidents are taken. The first of these incidents involves the sisters using money given to them as Christmas presents to buy something for their mother. The second involves them deciding as a group to give their Christmas breakfast to the hungry family of a poor woman in town who just gave birth. The third involves a play the girls put on for Christmas.

I also have to see the Hollywood movies based on the book (I"ve only seen the 1994 version with Winona Ryder in its entirety). Apparently, one of the actions depicted in two of the animated versions (Jo jumping over a fence) comes not from the book but from the 1949 M-G-M version with Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh.

When I get around to it, I want to do a longer post about Japanese animated versions of literary classics.

Miyazaki before forming Studio Ghibli had done an animated series of HEIDI, which did many a story of winter in Bavaria and subsequently the odd Christmas themed episode, though I don't recall the word "kuristomasu" being used. I only recall the setting of gift giving. There is a wonderful Korean film called CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST, that I haven't seen mentioned in the thread (my appologies if I somehow missed it) which sets a holiday backdrop for an intense and touching drama.

About BLUE CHRISTMAS... aka BLOODTYPE: BLUE... it was not aliens infiltrating humanity, but rather that human beings who came into contact with strange UFO sightings had their blood turn blue when hitting oxygen... the government goes on a paranoid witch hunt, and some people are rounded up into concentration camps, while others are executed in the streets on Christmas Eve...

There are a number of Japanese television shows with Christmas themed episodes... but one movie that sticks out in my memory is Haruki Kadokawa's infamous REX: A DINOSAUR STORY -- a rip-off of both JURASSIC PARK and E.T.... really.