Do they know it's christmas time at all...?

Christmas is fast upon us, as no doubt everyone can tell from the excess of stupid advertising happening everywhere. Some amongst you may be wondering if here in Japan we even notice that xmas is coming, and in order to answer your question wiht a definite 'yes', I here present for your titillation the first christmas beer. It is a wheat beer (I think the kanji under the deer's head mean wheat), and I presume by the general decor that it has been brewed just for the season.

Nonetheless, even if this were to prove a mere marketing trick, I have another way to tell it is xmas if I were to lose my calendar - the hairdresser outside my apartment has a 10' tall, inflatable backlit santa holding a merry christmas sign, standing just outside their window. So I think I am convinced!