Week 8: Japan Loves Halloween

Growing up, there was a period of a few years where Halloween was hands-down my favorite holiday. I mean, Christmas was up there too, but in the mind of my eight-year-old self, there was nothing more fun than wearing a costume and asking random strangers for candy. Also, the fact that my parents used to bring us trick-or-treating in a wagon made it all the more exciting. Of course, I mostly grew out of Halloween as years passed, and although I think I still think it's fun, it has long since been supplanted as my favorite holiday.

So, imagine my surprise when I found out how big Halloween was here in Japan. From September through October, every store I visited had some sort of advertisement about Halloween, whether that was simply event posters or more specific merchandise aimed at tapping into what appeared to be a collective interest in the holiday. Maybe I've just been doing Halloween wrong in America, but Japan seems to take the idea of Halloween to the next level. I will say, though, that a lot of the promotional food was delicious, and the myriad of candy and desserts available for sale was a personal favorite. However, the promotional side of Halloween in Japan pales to the actual event itself, and the people who dressed up truly outdid themselves and shattered my sheltered expectations.

Mister Donut had particularly good Halloween specials 

The weekend right before Halloween was when I took my trip to Tokyo, but the sheer amount of people dressed up and going to parties in the evening was still unbelievable. The mix of costumes was a chaotic jumble of colors, and the excitement in the air was palpable as a wide range of people thronged towards different destinations. People wore costumes ranging from popular anime characters to classic Halloween monsters to (really weirdly) sexualized animals, and altogether they looked like American party-goers on steroids. Lots and lots of steroids. I've never seen so many props or so much face paint, and you could tell that people were really getting into character. Some maybe a little too much; altered voices swirled in and out of my ears, all while my eyes were bombarded with poses that I suppose were meant to elicit personal recognition but which appeared in such rapid succession my brain started to lag behind. Unfortunately, I neglected to take any good photos of this phenomenon, so a stock picture or two and my superfluous descriptions will have to suffice.

Picture this but clearer, in-person, and more chaotic 

American costumes x100 right here

I suppose the fact that I was in Tokyo might explain the amazingly festive attitude I experienced, and I'm sure in smaller cities Halloween weekend feels quite different, but I'm glad I was able to witness such a strange and otherworldly occurrence in person. I also haven't really dressed up for Halloween in recent years, so I mostly just lived vicariously through the fantastical creations of many Japanese people.

Having had said that, I did attend a Halloween party here on campus, and not wanting to put zero effort into a costume I decided to at least buy something. In the end, for $5 I purchased a cowboy hat at ドン・キホーテ (Don Quixote), a popular store chain that has no relation to the novel (something that took me at least three weeks to learn, much to my embarrassment). The store had much more interesting costumes, but I'm nothing if not cheap, and so on the eve of the party and with minimal effort I dressed in a nice shirt, put on a pair of jeans, tied up my boots, and topped it all off with the hat. It was nowhere near the most exciting or original look, but I actually got enough compliments that I think it went over well. Either that or people were pitying me, but we're going to stick with the former for now. In spite of its small size, the party was lots of fun, although it was more like a regular party where people just happened to be dressed up. Regardless, my friends did a much better job with costumes than I did, and the night was over before I knew it.

From left to right: Mary, Masa, Me, and Akemi; there were tons more people but I only had a good picture of the four of us!

And that was Halloween in Japan! After asking around, I learned that no one actually goes trick-or-treating, but the holiday has become somewhat of a commercial goldmine in the last decade, bringing in lots of money for stores and stoking the interests of young people across Japan. Who knows, after seeing how much fun people had, maybe I'll finally go all-out for Halloween next year. But don't count on it.

My next post will be about my visit to an art museum here in Kanazawa and my trip to the nearby city of 富山 (Toyama), so be prepared for those! Because midterms and our final project are fast approaching, the last few weeks of blog posts will most likely be delayed and a bit heavy on the text side (unless people want pictures of homework and research articles, but I think it's safe to assume they do not). Thanks you for reading, and until next time, さよなら！