With Halloween passing by and November starting up, the next major holiday marked on my calendar is Thanksgiving at the end of the month. Unpopular opinion, but Thanksgiving may just be my favorite holiday of the entire year. Between getting together with friends, reuniting with family, eating a grand meal, and the feeling of gratitude in the air, what is there not to love? Obviously, we all know how Thanksgiving is celebrated here in the United States, but not many ever think about how the holiday is celebrated in other countries. While numerous nations around the world have unique festivities for Thanksgiving, today I will focus on the traditions of Canada, Germany, and Japan.

Beginning with Canada, this country’s Thanksgiving actually predates America’s by over 40 years. In 1578, an expedition led by English navigator Martin Frobisher, held Nunavut, a ceremony that gave thanks for the safety of their trip. This is considered to be the first Thanksgiving ever celebrated in North America. However, it is said that the natives in both Canada and the United States were having harvests long before any Europeans arrived. Loyalists that moved to Canada during the Revolutionary War brought turkey into the mix and other customs from American Thanksgiving. Canada formally created a national Thanksgiving set on the second Monday in October. As a result, Thanksgiving traditions in Canada and America look very similar.

Germany’s Thanksgiving is called Erntedankfest, meaning “harvest festival of thanks”. Erntedankfest is quite religious and it takes place on the first Sunday in October. More rural areas take the harvest meaning of the holiday literally, while churches in German cities join in on the celebration to give thanks for the good fortune they experienced that year. During Erntedankfest, you may see those who celebrate carrying an Erntekrone, a “harvest crown”, of flowers, fruit, and grain to the church and feasting on Masthühnchen (fattened chickens) or der Kapaun (castrated roosters).

Thanksgiving in Japan is called Kinrō Kansha no Hi, translating to “Labor Thanksgiving Day”. It comes from the ancient rice harvest festival Niinamesai, and the date of the festival, November 23rd, has stayed the same since the beginning. The tradition of Labor Thanksgiving Day began in 1948 as a way to celebrate the rights of Japanese workers. Now it is observed as a national holiday, but there are no massive feasts that you would see during the American holiday. Instead of that, labor organizations lead events where citizens are encouraged to celebrate the principles of hard work and community involvement. During the holiday, children make thank-you cards for various workers.