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Do you think Christmas illuminations should not be displayed in Japan's cities this year in order to save electricity?

42 Comments
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Yes. Unless Japan can begin to use renewables.

Imagine still believing in the myth of "renewable" in 2022! lol

Imagine still believing in the myth of "there is no climate change" in 2022! lol

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Light it up.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

mikeylikesit

Environmentalists are the new Puritans.

I have been an environmentalist for 50 years but never a Puritan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Environmentalists are the new Puritans. They would strip all the color and celebration from cultures to advance their cause.

Of course, banning Christmas meant that the Puritans only held power for about a decade in England before being run out, never to return to power. Let that be a fair warning to joyless ideologues today.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Leave them on. What is Xmas without the lights?!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I voted yes but only because I didn't notice the question was in the negative. I think it is good to talk about things in the positive using words like "stop" and "refrain", not to word them in the negative.

The reason I think the lights should go ahead, or "not be stopped" is that the energy saved will be minimal. We're (kind of) coming out of Covid as well, so let's have some fun.

The big illuminations near me are all on, btw. These are massive ones in parks people drive to, not just a few city streets people are at anyway from work etc.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hopefully yes. However, many businesses especially in the field of travelling are preparing for or have already started events of illumination. Unless the government ask them to refrain from the use of lighting for pleasure, this move cannot be stopped. It seems that lots of citizens are not so much concerned about the shortage of electricity.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From the Japanese point of view, they are romantic, diplomatic, festive, inclusive lights, spread generally across the various religions and the New Year. Their conception probably did originate from Christmas lights.

(Of course Bass is free to call them what he likes.)

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I voted "yes" above by accident. Its the way the question is phrased. So I guess I should say here I think the illuminations should go ahead. I love them. And I love Christmas & its message of peace and good will to everyone.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They are call winter illuminations in English, if you want to get technical.

The Japan guide can call them whatever they wish, I call them Christmas lights.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

There are so many grumpy whiners here. Go out, get some fresh air, and enjoy the holiday with some lights for once. The miniscule amount of energy used is not going to ruin your life.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They are not Christmas lights.

Oh yes, they are. That is what we are celebrating, Christmas, and the lights that go up along with the festivities are called Christmas lights.

They are winter lights.

That is not what they are called.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Since the 3/11 disaster renewable energy use has increased. Some countries in Europe are generating 20% or more of their power from renewable energy.

At the moment of this post, the UK is generating 24% of its energy from renewables.

Japan is generating 20% of its power from renewables. Up from 12% in 2014. Japan could achieve about 30% from renewables.

Japan is a leading country in designing hydrogen turbines.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Yes. Unless Japan can begin to use renewables.

Imagine still believing in the myth of "renewable" in 2022! lol

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Christmas is not about the lights and presents. Turn them off and have a normal Christmas.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It is "yes, they should not be", or "yes, they should be". Negative questions never work well. I'm going with No, they should not not be. As long as they are using LED lights I don't believe they consume that much energy. Now, they SHOULD reduce energy used for other purposes that don't need to be.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What IS Christmasu in Nihon? Certainly not the celebration of the coming of a guy who claimed to be here to absolve his followers of his Father's poor design. What does Christmasu celebrate in Japan? This is a cultural quirk I could not classify until I realized that it is, here, dedicated to a god, the god Santa, the god of lights and snow and ritual music ('Sleigh Bells Ring.. ', 'Stille Nacht', et cetera,) and BUYING and giving and eating which seems a great lead-in to Oshogatsu. It is also the celebration of a lesser known and not well advertised god, the god of Corporate Retail Profit. And the images of the god Santa range from morbidly obese White guy with obviously dangerously high blood pressure, a good looking Black guy with big eyes and a trusting smile, to, most recently, a Santa looking like he was absorbing the front of a blast wave but, being a god, form means nothing except one's imagination. Given the importance that Light is to it, albeit I voted Yes, just from the limited physical aspects of 'wasted' power requiring source, 'silliness", whatever...on further thought, if the celebration of the god Santa did not build a visual context around itself, its attraction would diminish, the contextual proof of its reality invalidated in some respect. The music also ground into the roots of the festival.

But, most of all, I think that the people of Tokyo know what they are doing. I trust their judgement on knowing what's best for their own contentment and willingness to pay for the increased power usage required as a tithe of a sort to their god. Many gods are celebrated with festivals in Nihon. There are two occasions when I thought I might have been greeted by such a god, once at a kawa in Hiroshima-shi, and once by an Inoshishi. Santa is generally a happy god of good cheer and who would probably be a really interesting person to get high with, however that might be achieved, by increased consciousness, or by gradually decreased consciousness. But a drunk Santa might reveal things no one really wants to know. In any case, much of the cant of Christmasu was, fortunately, lost in translation when the choice of dour, difficult to understand clearly, tortured to death guy versus the merry and immortal god Santa who did not remind one of reality but helped one forget it, became clear, the choice was not difficult.

And one cannot say that Santa doesn't get a lot of play in the U.S. at last also, but the fact that he has godlike powers is usually missed, and for children in the Western world, he is their starter god. But, that deception and betrayal of child credulity by insisting on something's reality and then revealing the deception with a sneering and whithering "You still believe in Santa Claus??!!!". If the child has the luck to record the deception as a betrayal and warning to think at least twice about ANYTHING an adult, an Authority, a teacher has to say and fact check. But fact checking is hard at that age so, instead, you hang a thread of doubt on the memory and off it goes into the growing cloud to await such time as new data calls it up, to be added, subtracted, or to simply to recognise invalidity and classify as such. But some are not so lucky and get fully programmed into the system of their milieu and lead lives largely directed by the milieu. But they know no different than 'normal'. For the lucky, it's "Fool me once..." which, again if lucky, sends development and thinking down different roads from stridctly 'normal' and we have authors, playwrights, directors, creators of all sorts.

But, in Japan, believing in gods seems quite natural and, in the nature of some of the gods, is. Santa has his own realm of godly domain which is contained in all of the collective perceptions of what Christmasu is that then motivates the moods and behaviors of the participants who reinforce each other in their behaviors and they have 'a good time' in the name of Santa. Spain, for example, embraces Mary as a chief negotiator for them, why not Santa for Nihon. And, again, unlike the alternative which evokes candles, Santa evokes lights and life and, purportedly, a different way of thinking. So, lights it should be. Why not (nazenaika)? Is there beer?

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

The Christmas illuminations are 99% LEDs which use next to no electricity. To save electricity over Christmes just send people home from work and turn of the lighting and heating in office buildings. Problem solved!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

they should still be lit up but they should turn them off at around 12 AM or so, and as @Farmboy said, use solar lights or other sustainable energy source.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

An idea: why not just have the lights until Christmas Eve, then shut them off and pull them down?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Agreed a far greater saving would be made by turning off the lights in empty offices over night but Christmas lights are a frivolous indulgence not a necessity. So perhaps cut back on the amount, plan them better to maximise impact while tenuring the energy usage and turn them off when it isn’t dark or late at night when there is no one about.

Can still make savings without cutting them completely, though as it is only a commercial festival in Japan and they primarily serve as advertising or at least to encourage shoppers to frequent the decorated streets, charge the shops benefitting with all the costs.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Considering how much power the pachinko parlors, obnoxious yet wholly unnecessary neon ads and signs and blaring speakers in shops use, the addition of Christmas lights would not make a lick of difference save to add some much need joy and cheer.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Not a christmas fan

Are you the Grinch?

-2 ( +6 / -8 )

Exactly quercetum. The Christmas lights are negligible. Even more so now that most of them are LEDs.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Japanese cities are lit up at night like stadiums and concerts. Office floors are kept with lights on even with no one or few people working to give the appearance of working hard overtime. The only exception was the brief period after 2011 earthquake. I hardly doubt cutting the Christmas illuminations would make any measurable difference. The night lights are one of the unique aspects of urban Japan.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Not a christmas fan, but it's once per year, why not..

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Kobe Luminarie is powered by generators. Smaller than previous because of the covid. Or canceled.

Update:

For 2022, the illuminations will once again be postponed, but an alternative event will take place. See below for details.

https://japancheapo.com/events/kobe-luminarie/

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nothing is ‘saved’ in case of not illuminating. It’s only not used then, although available. The LEDs are already produced and will also be continuously produced, which is already costing energy, resources and isn’t good for environment. And of course also the usage of the LEDs is based on electricity that is already produced and will be produced continuously further. The only way could be something like forbidding production and use of the illumination lights and reducing the electricity generation for that purpose beforehand, and of course that under a global agreement. Anything else won’t really help or brings only marginal insignificant savings, and not even that when considering further big and quick global population growth which by far outnumbers that little effect from savings of illumination lights during a limited timespan in holiday season.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Though it's a half solution, I opt for illumination displaying in shorter hours over its full cancelation.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

honestly speaking if these decorations will be on or off will not make significant difference in electricty consumption as whole.

game change may be pachinko and all of ads in red districts.say close pachinko at 8 and send guys back home to their families.this may save electricity and also increase of time with family instead of meaningless gambling.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Kind of worried about my own christmas lights, I usually put a lot of them on the house for the kids, but will probably scale back this year.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Of course they should put them on. Rode past Midtown on Friday night, looked great. Sod renewables at a time like this. Need something to cheer us all up after the last 3 years.

6 ( +14 / -8 )

My first trip to Japan was in December of 97. I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful Christmas lights.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

400 megawatts per hour.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

They are not Christmas lights. They are winter lights.

-17 ( +9 / -26 )

Yes. Unless Japan can begin to use renewables.

-12 ( +10 / -22 )

Japanese big cities are lit up at night like stadiums and concerts. The night lights are one of the reasons Japan is so unique. I hardly doubt cutting the Christmas illuminations would make any measurable difference.

7 ( +21 / -14 )

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