SMDzero wrote: Why doesn't Ryo, Ine San and Ine-San exchange presents on Christmas morning???
I assumed it was a lean year at the Hazuki residence with the loss of their only dojo instructor and they couldn't afford such nice things as presents. In-San can't afford to even provide food for Ryo... the family never sat down for a meal either.
Why is the Hazuki family so poor? Ryo has to sleep in his only pair of jeans because his poor ass can't even afford pajamas! Whatever Iwao was pulling down with his dojo teaching (probably only 2.5 million yen per year) he really left the family in dire financial straights when he died.
I'm pretty sure there's no official explanation, but I can only assume Iwao's death knocked all the Christmas cheer out of them so they decided to forgo Christmas celebrations that year. Then again, no-one in the game really seems to celebrate Christmas outside of simply mentioning it in passing conversation judging by the fact that Dobuita is still packed with people doing their shopping and such.
This is worth a read: http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/japan.shtml
The Hazuki family are far from poor. Everyone in Shenmue is a dirty bastard who never changes their clothes except for a handful on New Years Day