As you probably know, the image we have today about Santa is relatively new… At the beginning of the 1800s, in America, several writings and drawings started the popular tradition that led to the chubby and cheerful Santa Claus we know today. The Santa Claus name was established in the same era ("Sante Claus” was its first version, published in in New York at the beginning of 1820s).

After half a century, soon after the Meiji Restoration, Santa Claus appeared in Japan too, but the first Japanese Santa was… a samurai! However, today he is omnipresent here with the its well known image, like in this photo taken near the Tokyo Midtown skyscraper…

Midtown, Akasaka, Tokyo

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Good luck charms for the New Year, Hagoita