How is Halloween celebrated in Japan?
Various Halloween events take place from September to October.
Previously, the holiday was most often celebrated in America and Europe, but in the process of mixing the cultures of the West and the East, it also appeared in Japan. Every year, bars, cafes and restaurants in the Land of the Rising Sun host various events dedicated to this topic. Of course, we can’t do without traditional jack-o’-lanterns, which are specially used to carve out ominous faces.
In Japan, as in Russia, the holiday is just beginning to take root and mostly teenagers and young people become participants in the celebrations. It should be noted here that the Japanese are enthusiastic about everything new and are ready to adopt any traditions if they are really interested in it. There are even themed shops where you can buy special sweets, masquerade costumes, terrifying decorations and much more on the eve of the holiday.
Tokyo Disneyland has been holding events dedicated to the holiday of evil spirits for 14 years. The park area is decorated with pumpkins, and standard Disney characters are dressed in costumes appropriate for the event.
But the most famous Halloween procession takes place in the city of Kawasaki. Every year it attracts more than three thousand participants. Young people come from all over the country, constantly surprising the audience with non-standard outfits.
The holiday is not yet as popular as traditional celebrations for these places, such as the cherry blossom festival, but everything is to come. You can already see how artistic techniques are gradually being adapted to the realities of Japan, and people are getting used to Halloween and becoming active participants in the celebrations. By the way, the Japanese national holiday O-bon is very similar to Halloween and now you will understand why.
O-bon is an amazing combination of sorrow and fun. The fact is that on this day people visit the graves of their deceased relatives, and also prepare special dishes and simply have fun so that their loved ones who have left them will not be so sad. No one wears any special costumes on O-bon, everything is limited to a summer kimono, but the Japanese perform the bon dance on this day.
If we go back to Halloween, here in the Land of the Rising Sun our own traditions have already appeared. For example, young people often organize historical plays on this day with themes related to the holiday. The performances look very interesting and can bewitch, thanks to the amazingly beautiful costumes of the main characters and no less colorful scenery.
The Japanese know a lot about artistic design, and it’s not for nothing that a huge number of fashion shows take place here. Cosplay also originated in this country (creating the image of a character from a movie/series/video game/cartoon/comic book and any other work). If you happen to visit Japan for Halloween, you will never forget the atmosphere!
Note: the New Year is just around the corner and that means it’s time to start preparing gifts for the people close to you. For those who will not be able to give gifts, be sure to send a greeting card, which you can choose on the website https://www.pozdravunchik.ru/pozdravleniya/prazdnik/noviygod/s-nastupaushim/cards.html.
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How to celebrate Halloween in Japan!
Greetings to the readers of my blog and random guests. I am very pleased that you are interested in the country of sakura and chrysanthemums, the homeland of the samurai, beautiful Japan. This country has a large number of traditional holidays and festivals. Today we’ll talk about a very young holiday for the country. Halloween in Japan is a fairly new phenomenon, but already actively celebrated.
Preparation
The Japanese love holidays and have fun celebrating them. They begin preparing for Halloween two months in advance; in September and October they are already thinking about how and where they will celebrate, what outfits and makeup they will wear. The youth agree on which city they will go to for the carnival and which nightclub they will go to.
Supermarkets, shops, cafes and restaurants are preparing in advance. Their interior is decorated with the appropriate theme: bats, decorative pumpkins, small ghosts and other horror, and themed costumes, masks, special makeup products and other paraphernalia of a gloomy holiday appear on sale.
When is it celebrated?
Halloween or All Saints' Night is celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st. In the land of sake and sushi, it is celebrated, just like everywhere else at this time. Celebrations and fun begin during the day and have fun all night.
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are an essential part of the holiday. Long before Halloween, pumpkin heads with lanterns inside appear in yards. Shining with empty eye sockets, they frighten passers-by with their appearance.
By the way, pumpkins with carved faces and lanterns inserted inside are called “Jack-O-Lantern”.
Houses, in addition to traditional scary pumpkins, are decorated with lanterns, small fairies or bats.
Carnival
What would it be like without him? The Japanese love big festivals. The largest and most fun procession takes place in the city of Kawasaki. Every year, 3,000 young people gather here, dressed in themed costumes and painted faces.
It’s interesting that carnival participants dress up not only as ghosts, zombies and vampires, but also transform into characters from their favorite anime.
The parade resembles more of a cosplay festival than a Halloween procession. The crowd is having fun, taking pictures and laughing. Japan is a country of crazy festivals and parades, you need to see them with your own eyes and get a powerful dose of incredible impressions.
Celebrations in Tokyo
In the country's largest city, technological Tokyo, the event is also celebrated on a large scale. The city is decorated with the attributes inherent in the holiday, and a colorful carnival procession takes place.
If you go to the Shibuyu crossroads on this day, you will meet there witches, devils, ghosts, fairy tale and anime heroes, samurai and even people in food costumes.
Halloween in Japan
In 2021, Halloween falls on October 31, but public events traditionally shift to the following weekend. In Japan, as in most European countries, including Russia, significant festivities will take place from November 2 to 4 - the first weekend of the new month.
The Land of the Rising Sun celebrates All Hallows' Evening. This tradition is, first of all, developed by advertising and marketing companies, deriving commercial benefits from this; the idea was eagerly picked up by young people, followed by the rest of the inhabitants of Japan. It is the decorative and carnival component of the holiday that is of greater importance than the cultural, historical and religious.
How do the Japanese celebrate Halloween?
As in most countries, Halloween for the Japanese is a reason to have fun and celebrate. They are preparing very thoroughly for this date. Paraphernalia and decorations are of great importance to local residents. A wide variety of goods and specific symbols appear in local stores in advance.
Neither October 31 nor November 1 are official holidays in the country, so most public events are postponed until the next weekend. These days, carnivals and festive processions take place in major cities. All clubs, cafes, bars and restaurants try to prepare thematic programs. There is even a special festival of theatrical performances dedicated to this holiday.
The classic traditions, which are common in European and English-speaking countries, associated with begging for sweets, have not taken root here, although the adapted phrase: “Trick-or-treating” - “Trouble or treat” - can be heard from children of primary school age.
Attributes of Japanese Halloween
Pumpkin is the main symbol of the holiday. The seeds are also taken out of it, a scary face is cut out and a candle is lit inside. Pumpkins are also used in interior design elements.
Objects that are symbols of death and evil spirits are very common. Skull, scythe, hood, bat, vampire fangs, witches and their accessories such as broom and hat, any signs of the dead. To produce the desired effect, young people not only select appropriate costumes, but also use makeup; make-up can be very impressive and even shocking.
Halloween in Japan for tourists
Having arrived anywhere in this country on the eve of Halloween, an inexperienced tourist who has not previously seen how holidays and carnival processions take place in Japan will have plenty of impressions, including acute ones. Those who want to see something truly amazing should get into the very center of the festive events and the gathering of evil spirits.
Halloween in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. The largest carnival procession takes place here. Kawasaki is also considered one of the first cities in Japan to celebrate the holiday on such a large scale. The first parade took place in 1997. Today it attracts up to 3 thousand participants annually and about 130-150 thousand spectators, who also dress in scary costumes.
Another place that gets a major makeover for Halloween, attracts thousands of visitors and makes fabulous sales on All Hallows' Eve is Tokyo Disneyland. The amusement park first tried this holiday format in 2000, after which, together with Universal Studios Japan and with its financing, emphasis was placed on popularizing the holiday. And today Halloween at Tokyo Disneyland is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year.
How do the Japanese celebrate Halloween?
As in most countries, Halloween for the Japanese is a reason to have fun and celebrate. They are preparing very thoroughly for this date. Paraphernalia and decorations are of great importance to local residents. A wide variety of goods and specific symbols appear in local stores in advance.
Neither October 31 nor November 1 are official holidays in the country, so most public events are postponed until the next weekend. These days, carnivals and festive processions take place in major cities. All clubs, cafes, bars and restaurants try to prepare thematic programs. There is even a special festival of theatrical performances dedicated to this holiday.
The classic traditions, which are common in European and English-speaking countries, associated with begging for sweets, have not taken root here, although the adapted phrase: “Trick-or-treating” - “Trouble or treat” - can be heard from children of primary school age.
Halloween in Japan: costumes, candy and Star Wars
There are countless annual holidays and customs in Japan, but since they love fun matsuri, there is always room for new ones - borrowed from other cultures - Valentine's Day or Halloween. At first, this eerie autumn holiday was celebrated only in certain places where many foreigners lived - near military bases, or in those Tokyo areas where there is a high concentration of foreign citizens - but now it is a nationwide event. Each konbini contains candy and snacks in Halloween-themed packaging, and costume parades are held across the country.
According to the Japan Anniversary Association, the expected market for Halloween merchandise and events this year is ¥122 billion, more than double the ¥56 billion seen in 2011, just four years ago. This is 11% more than last year, when it exceeded Valentine's Day figures for the first time in history - this, however, was affected by unusually cold weather, which reduced consumption in February 2014.
The Hakuhinkan toy store in Ginza clearly reflects the spirit of the times.
While groups of children don't yet hunt for candy on the evening of October 31st in Japan, the weeks leading up to the holiday include many costumed events that get both adults and children into the spirit of the holiday. In the city of Chiba there is a sports race in costumes, and in the city of Hirosaki (Aomori Prefecture) they celebrate the apple harvest, and the theme of the holiday is also Halloween. Kitayama in Kyoto celebrates this holiday with an exhibition of lanterns carved from pumpkins.
The oldest such event is the Halloween parade in Tokyo's Omotesando district, and this year will mark its 33rd year.
Other parades also attract thousands of spectators - in Roppongi (Tokyo), in Kitakyushu (Fukuoka Prefecture) and in Kawasaki (Kanagawa Prefecture). This year we went to the parade in Kawasaki, where the Star Wars theme was especially widely represented - in December, viewers will be able to see the seventh film of George Lucas' popular epic for the first time. Festive Nebuta floats, created this year for the Nebuta Summer Festival, were brought from Aomori to take part in the parade, and about 2,500 participants came to Kawasaki from a “galaxy far, far away” to show off their cosplay skills. You can also experience the latest Japanese matsuri and have fun with the participants by watching our video. (Article in English published October 30, 2015)
Halloween in Japan. Costumes and decorations
Many consider Japan the birthplace of modern cosplay. The term was coined by Japanese businessman Nobuyuki Takashashi in 1984. So it's no surprise that costumes take center stage during Halloween. As in other places around the world, the costumes range from scary to funny and whimsical.
Although decorating for the holiday is not as widely practiced in Japan as in the West, pumpkin carving has caught on because pumpkins are a typical fall crop. However, Japanese pumpkins are green on the outside, so orange pumpkins must be imported from other countries for the holiday.
How Halloween is celebrated in Japan. Trick or Treat
Treating is not a common practice in Japan. If you come here during the holiday, you won't find children in costumes going door to door trying to collect as many candies as possible. The reason for this is due to traditional Japanese culture. In Japan, it is considered rude to bother people (especially strangers). Showing up unannounced at someone else's door is frowned upon. It is possible to find some event with a catch, but these will be well-structured and prepared events in public or commercial premises.
Halloween in Japan, Kanagawa, Japan
Photo: halloweenjapan
Where to go during Halloween in Japan
For the cultural reasons mentioned above and the fact that the average Japanese family lives in small apartments (compared to the US), house parties during Halloween are not a common occurrence.
While bars are a popular place to spend Halloween night in Japan. Most people prefer to gather in bars, squares and parks. Some of these festivities are very large. The largest Halloween event takes place every year in Shibuya (Tokyo), and is attended by about a million people!
Unique to Japan is the concept of Halloween trains, where people gather on a public train to party the night away. Although the practice was initially considered distasteful and met with public outcry, people eventually warmed to the idea. Today many have even begun to take part in this.
