Christmas Tina

Christmas Tina is a visual novel set in Tokyo in 1988, during Japan’s bubble economy. It follows people living for a year in a small, overlooked corner of the city, as new buildings rise and the old disappears. Kanna, a 15-year-old who leaves high school after a traffic accident, and Jing, a 19-year-old who failed his university entrance exams in China and quit a job he disliked, both move to Japan in search of opportunity.

The station job

Kanna and Jing each set their sights on a job that involves living in an old, run-down train station. It pays 400 yen an hour and runs around the clock, with no rent, heating or electricity costs. The employer wants to hire only one person, but Sakura, the woman in charge, suggests they do the job together. Kanna is awkward around people, while Jing does not speak Japanese.

The people around them

The story follows the characters from ages 19 to 20 for Jing and 15 to 16 for Kanna. Kanna is introverted, enjoys sunflower seeds and thinks of herself as unlucky. Jing is surprised by the cost of living in Japan: a day of part-time work there earns more than a month of salaried work in China. Kanna’s younger sister, aged 7 to 8, follows her to the city; bubbly and fearless, she is still too young to understand much of what is happening.

Sakura, aged 21 to 22, grew up in Tokyo in a family involved in real estate. She hires Kanna and Jing and is friendly, but firm when necessary. A 37-to-38-year-old Chinese man who moved to Japan 20 years earlier tries to push dangerous jobs on Jing; his business is mostly in nightclubs and land speculation. A black cat also lives in the old station building. It seems friendly but runs away when someone tries to catch it.