Hello, this is Jason.

As a foreigner living in Japan, Christmas here is very different than how it celebrated in The U.S. In Japan it is very much like the American Valentine’s Day, but with a Christmas Theme here. Since I covered holidays in my last post, I would like to share with you my favorite Christmas Memory from my childhood. The Christmas of 1987.

As a 12 year old boy at Christmas time, my mind was already made up as to what I wanted for Christmas that year months before. This was 1987 and the hot item to get was the Nintendo Entertainment system or NES. (Famicom here in Japan) It came pre-packaged with a Super Mario Bros. game cartridge. Due to heavy marketing that year by Nintendo, every 12 year old boy was foaming at the mouth in hopes to get one for Christmas. Being a 12 year old boy and having little sense of finances and that my parents had to buy for four other children, I asked for it anyway thinking there would be a 50/50 chance I would get it. I remember sometime around Thanksgiving of that year my Mom asking me what I wanted and I told her and explained how amazing it was over my then current game system The Coleco Colecovison. She didn’t understand the differences as I am sure most parents didn’t back then, but I think she could see my honest passion about it and the desire to have one.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas there is about five weeks. Plenty of time to be driven crazy by the intense marketing campaigns for toys aimed at children. Nintendo was no different. Pretty much every show I wanted to watch on TV for the next 5 weeks featured commercials (CM) by Nintendo advertising the NES and with each viewing of these commercials my crazed desire to have one became even stronger.

Christmas Eve rolled around and I remember having a very difficult time falling asleep due to the excitement of possibly getting an NES for Christmas and playing Super Mario Bros. in all it’s 8 bit colorful glory Christmas morning. Eventually I fell asleep only to awake at what was most likely somewhere between 5 and 6am Christmas morning. Of course I wasn’t going back to bed, but I was old enough to respect the fact that others might want to sleep, so I went downstairs and straight to the Christmas Tree. I turned on the Christmas Tree lights and it lit up the many presents stacked festively under the tree in a way that added to the magical moment even more. I quickly began searching for presents with my name on it and looking for a box that might be the NES. I remember forgetting the actual size of the box itself and found a box that I felt might be it. I pulled it out and I remember using a Christmas light to inspect the present more closely. Pressing the paper tightly against the box while holding the box close I was able to make out the famous Nintendo logo. At that moment some would expect a 12 year old to jump up and down with joy, but for me it was one of the most moving experiences. My eyes immediately began to fill up with tears of happiness. I had never in my life experienced tears during happy emotions, but now I understood this emotional connection between them. My months of dreaming of having such an amazing piece of gaming had finally come true. I remember picking it up and holding the present in my lap on the couch for at least 45 minutes to an hour before any of my siblings woke up. I don’t remember who woke up first, but I am going to guess it was my youngest brother as he would have been the person to wake everyone up.

Now you would think at this moment I would have been able to tear into the present and finally get to see this wonderful present, but no. It was tradition in my family (though very much protested by the children) that we must first eat breakfast before opening any presents. My mother made pancakes for all of us and we all sat around the table and I told them about my discovery. None of them seemed all that interested, but seemed happy for me nonetheless.

Finally breakfast was finished and we began to open presents. I got to go first because I was too excited to wait. I opened up the present and saw the glorious box of the NES with the image of Super Mario Bros. included on the front of it. I couldn’t of felt any happier if I had one a million dollars. I was on cloud nine. I opened the rest of my presents and my siblings did the same. I then immediately proceeded to the basement where we kept our old TV that we didn’t use anymore, but I used for playing video games. I hooked up the NES and powered it on. The Super Mario Bros. title screen appeared and it was like viewing a beautiful painting and feeling some kind of special connection with the artist. Like you totally understand and got what they are saying through their work. It was a work of art to me.

I remember spending many hours playing games on the NES after school and on weekends for many years to come. It was amazing and ultimately generated interest in finding out where these games came from and the history of Japan which eventually lead me to living in Japan. To some it would seem like just another Christmas present, but to me it was a pivotable point in my life that set me on a path I could of never imagined at the age of 12. By far my most favorite Christmas ever.