Thanksgiving Time in Japan

It's almost Thanksgiving time in Japan.

In Japan we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving like people in the USA do. I 've been here so long that I can't remember anymore but it seems to me that Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November.

In Japan, November 23rd is, "Rinro Kansha no Hi" (Labor Day) and it is a national holiday.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I think it is best because we don't have to fight crowds at department stores buying cheap trash for people we don't even like like we do at Christmas. Thanksgiving is just sitting around and drinking and eating too much... That and watching the Detroit Lions get the shit kicked out of them every year....

Christmas sucks because we have to go out and buy crap for people we don't really like... Remember? Like that shit necktie you bought at the last moment for your uncle two years ago? What a waste of time and money. You know, they say "it's the thought that counts?" Hell, you put zero thought into that purchase.

You know uncle hates that necktie even more than that awful cologne that you gave him for his birthday last year.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I hate buying presents for birthdays too?

Anyway, so, since there is no long holiday on the third Thursday of the month in Japan and no football on TV; no shopping at packed shopping malls; no mom & dad fighting about how to make a turkey; no uncle getting too drunk to walk; and no older brother too stoned to associate with family members anymore, we celebrate Thanksgiving at the Rogers house in Japan on Labor Day, November 23rd.

That's my iPhone there in front of the turkey so you get an idea

as to the size of this bird.

Anyhow... I just got back from the International super and bought a turkey. It weighs in at 4.77 kilograms (10.5 pounds) and cost ¥3,900 ($46.67 USD). Including tax, that comes to ¥4,095 ($49.00).

A 10 pound turkey might seem tiny to those of you in the west, but, in Japan it is pretty big as we don't usually have huge ovens like American homes do. Most Japanese dwellings don't even have an oven. This one is just right for our oven.

Compared to the USA, is this very expensive?