Every year on the fourth Thursday in November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the only holiday where nearly everyone is, indeed, "home for the holidays." The day before is known as the busiest travel day in the United States and the day itself is spent at home with family members, eating a big meal and watching football. The four-day weekend is the longest break in America, just one of the reasons to be thankful.

Nov. 27 was the third straight year that I have not been home for Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. The only comparable events in Japan are the celebrations from New Year's Eve to the first few days of the year.

Recently, my parents sent me a Thanksgiving greeting card, which arrived much too early. I called to thank them and during our chat I heard something horrible: On their way home, the several McDonald's they passed all had long lines, and it wasn't the first time they had seen this. And it was a Friday night!

Sure, McDonald's is cheap and fills people up, but it's certainly not healthy and not the way to react to a financial crisis. Imagine having McNuggets or Kentucky Fried Chicken for Thanksgiving, or a cup of ramen instead of soba for New Year's Eve in Japan.

What needs to be done — in Japan as well as the United States — to alleviate the financial crisis is that consumers need to spend money. Instead of eating cheap, unhealthy food to save money in the short term, now is the time to buy organic or handmade, or other premium foods. Staying healthy now saves more money in the long term. But this does not mean buying at a large, national chain supermarket. Large companies have the ability to survive recessions. As we've seen with large banks, some firms can even hope for and receive a government bailout. It is the small businesses, the local grocer, the neighborhood eatery that require our support. If these people can sustain their livelihood and keep their jobs, the stress on the economy will be less severe.

I live near Tsukiji, where Tokyo's Central Wholesale Market is. I may not always be able to wake up around 6 a.m. to go to the market while it's active. On the times I have been, it is always worthwhile, even if the produce may be more expensive than in the supermarket, but it's fresh. (However, I've found some raw oysters that were cheaper than those at a supermarket.) When I can't visit, I go to the local grocer around the corner, who buys produce at Tsukiji every morning. I bought a basket of eggs for ¥420 the other day, about ¥70 more than the same at a supermarket, but I was happy to support the man and his wife. There aren't any supermarkets near where I live, unless department stores are counted. But even when I was living in the suburbs of Tokyo, where three or four supermarkets are within a minute of the train station, I would buy at a corner grocer and shop for organic products at a, sadly, now-defunct store.

But it's not just food. The day after Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. (All those decorations in Japan after Halloween are too premature.) Americans are predicted to not spend as much this year, with mega-retailers like Wal-Mart and Target slashing prices, but that doesn't have to come true. I'm not saying we should buy superfluous items or go on a shopping spree. We should spend only what we can afford and not put ourselves in a debtor position like all those banks that made bad bets on debt and gave loans to unqualified borrowers who could never pay. Maybe it's time for a new wardrobe, or a digital television, or gym membership. However, we should buy with a purpose. If we want to buy a book, or a CD or DVD, then, instead of buying it at Amazon.com or some other large retailer, we should go to the local bookstore or record store.

In my case, with prices generally fixed throughout Japan, I feel I am helping the economy better by buying from a smaller, domestic company such as Yamano Music in Ginza than from a multinational such as HMV.

Of course, if we are out of a job or have no savings, it's not wise to pile up more debt. For those of us who have savings, as many in Japan do, now is the time to spend.

Being an export-driven economy, Japan has to refocus as its overseas consumers are hit harder by failed financial management in the United States and Europe. If consumers in Japan spend more than usual, eat into their savings just that little bit more, the economy will expand. Japan can show the world that it has the strength and sound personal fiscal responsibility to spend its way out of a recession.

And we would have no one to thank but ourselves.

E-mail: yung@ml.japantimes.co.jp