With the celebration of Thanksgiving comes the old Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where jolly old Saint Nick rolls into Herald Square before signing papers to authorize the official Beginning of the Christmas Season (and least that's what I've been told). Central planning from North Pole corporate suits aside, some parts of the globe are just as enthusiastic to celebrate their own interpretation of the season. Japan is no exception. See Tokyo's one-time, radioactive reptilian archenemy in lights and a pixie-like spirit in white-trimmed, red woolen whose, er, distinguishing characteristics suggest a misreading of the world "Santa" somewhere along the line; all in this special holiday hat-tip to modern democratization's most eccentric client.