From Bethlehem to Tokyo: The Global Journey of Christmas

While most of us picture Santa delivering presents, the earliest Christians actually celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, not his birth, and the holiday’s modern form has traveled from 4th-century Rome to Tokyo’s KFC counters.

Origins and Early History of Christmas

The earliest followers of Jesus did not annually commemorate his birth but instead focused on commemorating their belief in his resurrection at Easter. The story of the birth of Jesus appears only in two of the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew and Luke. They provide different details, though both say Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

The exact day, month and even year of Jesus’s birth are unknown, said Christine Shepardson, a professor at the University of Tennessee who studies early Christianity. The tradition of celebrating Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25, she said, only emerged in the fourth century. “It’s hard to overemphasize how important the fourth century is for constructing Christianity as we experience it in our world today,” Shepardson said. It was then, under Emperor Constantine, that Christians began the practice of gathering at churches instead of meeting at homes.

Some theories say the date coincides with existing pagan winter solstice festivals, including the Roman celebration of Sol Invictus, or the “Unconquered Sun,” on Dec. 25. While most Christians celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, some Eastern Orthodox traditions celebrate the holy day on Jan. 7. That’s because they follow the ancient Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, used by Catholic and Protestant churches as well as by much of the secular world.

Medieval Rowdy Celebrations and 19th-Century Shift

For centuries, especially during the Middle Ages, Christmas was associated with rowdy street celebrations of feasting and drinking, and for many Christians, it “was not in good standing as a holiday,” said Thomas Ruys Smith, a professor of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia in England. “Puritans,” he said, “were not fond of Christmas.”

But in the 19th century, he said, Christmas became “respectable” with “the domestic celebration that we understand today – one centered around the home, the family, children, gift-giving.” The roots of modern-day Christmas can be traced back to Germany. In the late 19th century, there are accounts of Christmas trees and gift-giving that, according to Smith, later spread to Britain and America, helping to revitalize Christmas on both sides of the Atlantic.

Christmas became further popularized with the publication of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens in 1843, and the writings of Washington Irving, who was a fan of St. Nicholas and helped popularize the celebration of Christmas in America. The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression. The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933 and remains one of New York City’s most popular holiday attractions.

Santa Claus: From St. Nicholas to the Modern Icon

St. Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop from the Mediterranean port city of Myra (in modern-day Turkey). His acts of generosity inspired the secular Santa Claus legend. The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas – celebrated annually on Dec. 6 – go way beyond delivering candy and toys to children. He is believed to have interceded on behalf of wrongly condemned prisoners and miraculously saved sailors from storms.

Devotion to St. Nicholas spread during the Middle Ages across Europe and he became a favorite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays. He is the patron saint of sailors and children, as well as of Greece, Russia and New York. Devotion to St. Nicholas seems to have faded after the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, except in the Netherlands, where his legend remained as Sinterklaas. In the 17th century, Dutch Protestants who settled in New York brought the Sinterklaas tradition with them. Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.

Diverse Gift-Givers Around the World

In the U.K., it’s Father Christmas; in Greece and Cyprus, St. Basil (who arrives on New Year’s Eve). In some parts of Italy, it’s St. Lucy (earlier in December) and in other Italian regions, Befana, a witch-like figure, who brings presents on the Epiphany on Jan. 6.

Instead of a friendly Santa Claus, children in Iceland enjoy favors from 13 mischievous troll brothers, called the Yule Lads. They come down from their mountain cave 13 days before Christmas, according to folklore.

Evergreen Traditions, Nativity Scenes, and Caroling

One of the oldest traditions around Christmas is bringing greenery – holly, ivy or evergreen trees – into homes. For many people, the evergreen can symbolize Christ’s promise of eternal life and his return from death, Smith said. The decorating of evergreen trees is a German custom that began in the 16th century, said Maria Kennedy, a professor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s Department of American Studies.

“Mistletoe, an evergreen shrub, was used in celebrations dating back to the ancient Druids – Celtic religious leaders – some 2,000 years ago,” Kennedy writes in The Surprising History of Christmas Traditions. “Mistletoe represented immortality because it continued to grow in the darkest time of the year and bore white berries when everything else had died.”

Other traditions include Christmas services and Nativity scenes at homes and churches. More recently, Nativity scenes – when erected on public property in the U.S. – have triggered legal battles over the question of the separation of church and state.

Christmas caroling, Kennedy writes, can also be traced back to European traditions, where people would go from home to home during the darkest time of the year to renew relationships within their communities and give wishes for good luck, health and wealth for the forthcoming year. They would recite poetry, sing and sometimes perform a skit. The idea was that these acts would bring about good fortune to influence a future harvest.

The KFC Christmas Phenomenon in Japan

Among the many Christmas traditions that have been adopted and localized globally, there’s one that involves KFC. In 1974, KFC launched a Christmas campaign where they began to sell fried chicken with a bottle of wine so it could be used for a Christmas party.

KFC says the idea for the campaign came from an employee who overheard a foreign customer at one of its Tokyo restaurants saying that since he couldn’t get turkey in Japan, he’d have to celebrate Christmas with Kentucky Fried Chicken. “That really stuck,” Smith said. And still today, you have to order your KFC months in advance to make sure that you’re going to get it at Christmas Day.

Key Takeaways

• The earliest Christians celebrated Easter, not Christmas, and the holiday’s modern form emerged in the fourth century.
• St. Nicholas’s acts of kindness gave rise to Santa Claus, a figure that evolved differently across cultures.
• Japan’s KFC Christmas tradition began in 1974 and remains a seasonal staple that requires advance ordering.

Christmas has evolved from a religious observance to a global cultural celebration, blending ancient customs with modern twists that keep the holiday alive across continents.