The First Christmas

By Yashi Nozawa

A non-fiction brief history of Christmas and associated interesting problems. The author treated the subject as a simple historical event of his research object, so this book is not a religious book as its title might suggest. The first chapter focuses on discovering the origin of a Christmas celebration as a religious ritual. This simple task was involved finding answers to several important questions, such as when and where Jesus born? When and which church officials decided the date of Christmas? Did they select the correct date? If not, then what date and for what reason did they choose it? Once the first Christmas question is settled in chapter one, the following four chapters deal with the questions of when, where, and who did perform the first Christmas celebration in America. Again the simple inquiry leads us to a tangled web of the incomplete history of many earlier explorers and settlers. It includes the history of European explorers and their mutual conflicts in the period after the discovery of America by Columbus but before the Puritans' landing on Plymouth Rock. This book also describes Leif Erikson's North American settlement and related questions about its exact location. Probably the most intriguing subject is the possibility of pre-Columbian European settlers within the confines of the continental United States. Speculation about the existence of these unconfirmed settlements was triggered by the discovery of several rune-stones, which carried the inscription of rune alphabets, Norsemen's written language. In the last two chapters, the author describes the Japanese Christmas celebration as an example of Christmas in a non-Christian country. Since Japan is the author's native country, he has observed the evolution of Christmas there throughout the past sixty plus years since the end of World War II. It was refreshingly interesting compared to the traditional Japanese activities during the month of December.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yashi Nozawa
• Release date: Jan 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311155788

Yashi Nozawa

Yashi Nozawa was born in Tokyo, Japan. He came to the United States and received M.S and Sc.D. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. After his retirement from engineering, he began writing as a second career. He writes in two different fields: the genre of biographical fictions and memoirs, and science and religions, specializing in the rational explanation of religious phenomena. He has written several dozen articles in both fields for periodicals. He has also published, "Temporary Permanence" subtitled, "My Life in America: Humorous Short Stories Based on Experiences of a Japanese Engineer," a collection of biographical short stories. Many readers of the book have praised his O’Henry-style writing and made it a local best seller. "The Spring Connections: Easter, Passover and Others," (as Dr. Yasushi Nozawa) is his second book, the first in the field of science and religion. The book is about the deep-rooted tradition of spring celebration and its interaction with calendar systems. He also disclosed his new interpretation of the meaning of the Israelites' Exodus in the book. "Betrayal, Resurrection, and Conversion: An Atheist's View," is his latest book in science and religion field. He disclosed his bold three hypotheses, which explained major miracles in Christianity with rational and logical ways.

Book preview

The First Christmas

Yashi Nozawa

Published by Indian Town Press at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Yashi Nozawa

ISBN: 9781311155788

Discover other title by Yashi Nozawa

The Spring Connection

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Table of Contents

Chapter One - Introduction

Chapter Two - The First Christmas Celebration

Chapter Three -The First Christmas in America

Chapter Four - Beginning of Christmas Tradition in America

Chapter Five - Christmas in Pre-Columbian America

Chapter Six - Unconfirmed European Settlers

Chapter Seven - My Japanese Christmas

Chapter Eight - Post-War Christmas in Japan

List of Reference Materials

About Yashi Nozawa

Other Titles by Yashi Nozawa

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Chapter One - Introduction

This book is a collection of four Christmas related essays. I wrote each essay as a stand-alone independent article. However, for convenience, I have to separate some essays into two separate chapters. Therefore if you combine chapters two and three; four and five; and seven and eight; you will get more of the ideas which I intended to convey.

This is an accidental product of a project initiated by a writers’ group which I attended regularly. The Morningside Library Writers’ Group, in Port St. Lucie, FL. has a long tradition. When I attended for the first time in 2001, the group was already in full bloom under the leadership of George(?) Grant and Bruce Bew. The group has included many local authors, although nobody has seemed to keep track of the number of published authors. The current leader, Gene Hull, wanted to rejuvenate a custom of this group, writing and reading an article for Christmas. Since I am not a Christian and did not know much about Christmas, I decided to do research on the subject and write an article. Once I started the research, I discovered that the subject was interesting and exciting. I wrote more than one article to be assembled into a book. Unfortunately, I could not finish the book before the 2013 Christmas season, but I will make sure to publish it before Christmas in 2014.

Another unintended result of research for this book was the discovery of the relationship between a religious holiday and a natural or seasonal event. My previous book, called The Spring Connection dealt with the association of Easter, Passover and Spring Equinox. This book focuses on the connection between Christmas and winter solstice. I accidentally made both books mutually complementary companion books.

No book can be completed by the author alone, as most books include prefatory remarks of acknowledgement to express the author’s indebtedness. Many people contributed to this book, too. The largest contributor is my editor, adviser and wife, Ann W. Nozawa. Without her, none of my book would become reality. I also appreciate encouragement, criticism, and advice from fellow writers in the Morningside Group.

January 2014.

Back to Table of Contents

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Chapter Two -The First Christmas Celebration

What is Christmas? Its literal meaning is a formal celebration of the Messiah (Christ), namely a Christian ritual to commemorate the birth of Jesus. When is it? Of course, it is December 25. Not so fast! For example, Christmas was celebrated on three different dates every year in the city of