I'm Rat. What's Yours? 私はネズミ。あなたは？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think the two are talking about?

- I’m rat. What’s yours?
- Mine is ox.

They are talking about their Japanese zodiac signs, called "eto (干支)," and age. This type of conversation, "I’m XXX. What’s yours?," is very common among the Japanese elderly as they often use their zodiac signs to say their age instead of directly saying it. Japanese zodiac signs consist of the following 12 animals, forming a 12-year cycle:

2020  rat
2021  ox

2022  tiger

2023  rabbit

2024  dragon
2025  snake

2026  horse

2027  sheep

2028  monkey

2029  rooster

2030  dog

2031  boar

So, what do you think this is?

Christmas Ratree at Tokyo International Forum

The tree in the above picture is a Christmas tree made of Santa Rats, that is, stuffed animals of the zodiac sign for the following year 2020.

Mini Santa Rats

Every December, two Christmas trees decorated with stuffed animals of the following year's zodiac sign appear at the Tokyo International Forum. As Year 2020 is the rat year, the trees this year are made of mini Santa Rats, representing fertility and prosperity of descendants. If you want to know more details about Japanese zodiac signs, click here. 

Tokyo International Forum is directly connected with JR Yurakucho Station and JR Tokyo Station through the underground path.

東京国際フォーラムのクリスマスツリーです。毎年、翌年の干支の動物ツリーを飾ってますのでご存知の方も多いかと思います。来年はネズミ年なので今年のツリーはネズミサンタさんで一杯です。

これまでクリスマスなんて何とも思ってなかったのですが、なぜかクリスマスケーキを無性に食べたいな｡｡｡と感じる今日のこの頃です。（花より団子です｡｡｡🙇）