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Notes -
I thought that although Japan is not a Christian country, to say the least, Christmas carols and at least the aesthetics of Christmas were very popular there, although often reinterpreted into oddities like KFC for Christmas.
Very true. Christmas decorations are up for sale at the local Costco, and Christmas cake adverts are also already out. The colonel as you point out is already in his Santa garb in front of KFC. Christmas music is also played in public areas like shopping complexes. That said, Spotify may not be aware of any of this.
Of note, Christmas Eve is the day of import here, I think December the 25th goes largely unremarked upon in Japan. Christmas cakes are discounted, and kids after a certain age get no more presents in most households (the local house that used to have really nice decorations outside stopped having any once their kids got out of elementary school). Christmas Eve is actually a datenight and couples go out for some romantic whatnot. I remember girls' without boyfriends saying they would party with their girlpals and called it "single bells" (シングルベル). New Year's Eve, meanwhile, is a family time here, and you're hard pressed (or used to be when I would go out at these times) to find anyone singing auld lang syne at midnight in a local bar.
At my own house we celebrate more the American-style I'm used to, with a tree, decorations, presents opened Christmas morning, etc.
For what it's worth, I had no idea that the 25th and 26th had relevance beyond "two days to sleep off the hangover from Christmas (the 24th)" until coming to England to study. Curiously, this is reverted for Halloween (All Hallows' Eve?), which is only observed in Germany as an American import, while the following Day is a bank holiday which Christians actually assign great significance to.
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