Secular

Easter was last Sunday. Do you know the story behind Easter, and why we put up pictures of eggs and chicks every year around this time?

Actually, I'm not completely sure. The eggs and chicks are traditional symbols of spring because they have to do with growth and new life. I don't believe they're necessarily traditional Easter symbols, at least they probably weren't before Easter became less a "holiday" and more a "celebration" a la Christmas, in the last century.

These days, almost everyone celebrates Christmas - whether they're Christians or not. You can see this phenomenon quite clearly in Japan, where Christmas is a major event, but almost no one is Christian. Easter is somewhat the same in the US - perhaps not members of minority religions, but certainly non-practicing Christians and agnostics celebrate Easter just the same as Christians do. It's increasingly secular - separate from religion. Can you think of any holidays like this in Japan?