Why Japanese girls want Christmas romance
By Colin Joyce in Tokyo
20/12/2006

Get yourself a wonderful boyfriend by Christmas; Best Christmas date spots; Christmas for lovers – the magazine headlines tell the story: all a Japanese girl wants for Christmas is the perfect date.

In a country where less than one per cent of the population is Christian, Christmas has been reinvented as the most romantic time of the year.

For many Japanese women being taken to an expensive restaurant on Christmas Eve is a crucial indicator of success, while having to go shopping with female friends marks one as a "loser dog", the Japanese equivalent of a Bridget Jones singleton. the rest