Courtesy of Siliconera we bring you that picture above from (where else?) the Land of the Rising Sun.

Yes, it's funny that Pokémon are so famous, and Piplup is adorable, but I think the real point here is how utterly ironic this whole thing is. Japan, in creating these ornamentations, has inadvertently begun celebrating a God forced upon them in days of yore by Caucasians by deitizing a brand that has become simply godlike in terms of its following and units sold, which they themselves have been pushing to our side of the globe for a decade or so. In a way it's the ultimate expression of the triumph of capitalism over religion during the Christmas season, and an excellent example of the subtle Japanese manipulation of the world around them.

On the other hand, Piplup is really adorable.

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

JtheYellow

Murray Kurrisimass! ^_^;;

itemforty

huh.

Dale North

I want those

Teta

Awsomness.
Piplup is the coolest among those. Now if it was a Mudkip, i would import it.

Maldom

MUDKIP JOKE NEVER GETS OLD NO NO IT DOES NOT LOL

brad drac

Personally, I fucking love the japenese take on christianity, baby santa in the manger and all. The context of the symbolism is so wrong, but it feels so right.

BFeld13

I'd crucify it

Samit Sarkar

Putting the ‘rampant consumerism’ back in Christmas? Nah, it was never gone to begin with. ‘Christmas’ and ‘consumerism’ don’t just begin with the same letter; they might as well be listed as synonyms in the thesaurus.

Bulrog

LOL

Bob Muir

I would have just seen it as more Pokemon marketing, but what do I know?

Lord_Satorious

Please someone tell me, where do I get those Pokémon Christmas decorations? I'll be all over them in seconds if I knew I could buy them.

Burnt Meatloaf

Pokémon is already everywhere. How come they don't make stuff like this in Sly Cooper?

Noah

I want a Squirtle to put on top of my tree!!!

BTW, when was religion forced on Japan? Christianity was been in Japan as far back as 400 AD, and until just after WWII the believers were persecuted, imprisoned and martyred. When Miss1onaries started building western styled schools and hospitals in the early 1900's, helping them develop to where they are today, it began easing up a bit, but there was no freedom of religion in Japan until after WWII, until America pressured them into it. (into 'freedom' of religion...not God').