DELVING INTO THE HISTORY OF TURKEY DAY

It's Thanksgiving today in the United States. And Labour Thanksgiving Day in Japan. Which marks a not so common occasion where the two countries share a national holiday on the same day - at least this year.

Because while the American Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, in Japan the holiday is tagged to a certain date (23 November) instead. This year the two coincide, hence the joint holiday.

In essence, although they may not always be celebrated on the same day, the two have similar roots. With some twists, though.

The fascinating thing about history is that there are often several versions of the same event, depending on who you ask or what source you consult, and it's hard - if not impossible - to tell which version is closest to the truth (though I suspect it often lies somewhere in-between). Oh, how I sometimes wish someone would finally invent that elusive time machine, so that we could go back and fact-check. Then again, the absolute truth might easily turn out to be disappointing or indeed shocking, and at the same time it would put an end to all those mysteries and speculations that can spur such fascinating discussions. The world would probably become a much more boring place... So perhaps we're better off without time travel.

So the official version, which I understand is typically taught at American schools, says that the American Thanksgiving goes back to the arrival of English settlers on the Mayflower in 1621, who then sat together with Native Americans to share a meal and thank them for helping with their first successful harvest in the New Land.

It certainly does sound like a very nice and fitting background story for the holiday that is being celebrated today, but some say that the actual truth may have been quite a bit darker and less peaceful than the rosy picture suggests.

But whatever the real circumstances, it does seem likely that the autumn harvest did play a role in this, one way or another.

Which takes us to the Japanese (Labour) Thanksgiving Day - which has its own controversies. According to the history books, Japan had been observing a Harvest Festival (called 'Niiname-sai' ) for centuries, based on rituals going back over 2,000 years, to the time when rice cultivation was first brought to Japan. Traditionally, the festival celebrated the year's hard work, and during the ceremony, the Emperor would dedicate the year's harvest to the spirits and taste the rice for the first time.

When adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the date of the festival was fixed at 23 September.

However, during America's occupation after World War II, the US-led authorities sought to abolish Japanese national holidays rooted in Shinto mytholgy (Japan's official state religion until 1945, with the belief that both animate and inaminate things have a spirit), including 'Niiname-sai'.

The response from the Japanese government was rather pragmatic, I would say: They simply renamed the holiday to 'Labour Thanksgiving Day' while keeping the date the same. Simple.

And that is the short version of how the two countries ended up celebrating Thanksgiving today.

The most notable difference nowadays is that while in the U.S., it's arguably one of the most important holidays of the year (probably on an equal footing with Christmas), with families travelling across the country to reunite for a traditional roast turkey feast, and watching American football or a Thanksgiving parade, in Japan there is none of that!

In fact, here it's just one of the many opportunities during the year to have an extra day off work. In fact, Japan has no fewer than 16 public holidays in a year, compared to only 11 in the United States, 9 in Switzerland and a mere 8 in the UK.

But no family get-togethers (those are reserved for the New Year's Holidays) or parades, nor any turkey dinners here. Well, unless you go to the right place!

I was lucky enough to have a fabulous turkey lunch with some of my workmates yesterday - in fact the first time for me to taste a traditional roast turkey meal American style, complete with cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry relish!

At this point I should probably also mention the significance of Thanksgiving in my home country, Switzerland: None whatsoever, because it simply doesn't exist!

Interestingly enough, though, there is an equivalent in Germany: A harvest festival usually observed on the first Sunday in October ('Erntedankfest' ), with a mainly religious background, though not an official holiday and nowhere in the grand style of the American Thanksgiving.

That said, Switzerland does have certain traditions associated with the harvest, but not only do they take place much earlier (in September), they are also in true Swiss style and couldn't be further apart from Thanksgiving or even its German equivalent!

Care for a couple of examples?

Well, there is the 'Sichlete' festival, whereby the clue is in the name: It's the German word for 'sickle', which of course, is a traditional farming tool, still used today in mountaineous areas, where machinery cannot reach.

The festival celebrates the arrival of the harvest time and is a colourful mix of an alpine descent tradition (where the cows are being brought down from the summer pastures), cow beauty pageant and livestock exhibition. It also sports cowbell ringer performances, cow milking demonstrations and alphorns performances, while offering local delicacies such as 'Raclette' (more about that in my previous post).

In recent years, the traditional festival is enjoying a revival also in other parts of the country, including the area where I come from, where they serve lamb stew (no, not turkey!) with mashed potatoes.

Or there is the 'Chästeilet', specific to the Bernese Alpine region, which is also celebrating the cattle drive at the end of summer. The name loosely translates into 'dividing the cheese', which is what they literally do, dividing up and distributing the mountain cheese according to a enturies-old custom. And as I mentioned in my last post, cheese plays a big role in Switzerland, and there is a lot of it!

What these festivals have in common, and what sets them apart from the American Thanksgiving, is that they are regionally-dominated outdoor festivals with lots of folklore, in contrast to the nationally observed family event that Thanksgiving is.

Isn't it exciting to have so many diverse traditions that, despite similar origins, come in such different shapes and sizes, some being very specific to their own country or even region, while others transcend to other parts of the world, sometimes in a similar format, and then again often transformed completely and adapted to the new environment and culture!

By the way, I've never had the opportunity to witness either of the two above-mentioned events in Switzerland. But at least I can now tick a traditional Thanksgiving turkey off my list...