Another Christmas season is upon us and I'm sure certain neighbourhoods in Tokyo are simply overflowing with multi-coloured LEDs and other sorts of decorations to welcome in the Yuletide. Plus, the hotels and restaurants are probably enticing romantic couples for a wonderful night out. In fact, I heard recently that Xmas may be even more popular than Valentine's Day (another observed and very popular holiday in the nation) when it comes to affairs of the heart.
When I heard Hikaru Utada's（宇多田ヒカル）"Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" for the very first time a few days ago, my impression was that this was a typically Japanese Xmas song based on what I wrote down in the first paragraph. Supposedly Utada was rather nervous about creating this song since she had never written or composed a Xmas ballad before, perhaps since her idea of the Holidays might be more along the lines of mine: either the religious theme of Jesus Christ's birth or the secular theme of Santa Claus on his merry ride on December 24th.
But I would say that she didn't miss the target at all. It's a soft and warm piano-based tune to curl up around with that significant other in front of the fireplace...or the TV screen switched to the Fireplace Channel. The song was one of the tracks on Disc 2 of her second compilation album from November 2010 "Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2" which hit No. 1 and went Double Platinum. It eventually became the 56th-ranked album of 2011.
"Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" also became the Xmas campaign song for Pepsi Nex that year since there's nothing like cola for the Holidays. Just ask Santa and Coca-Cola.
Utada has of course performed the song in concert but so has Ken Hirai（平井堅）as a cover.
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