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 Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:29 am
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As most people know Halloween is very popular in the United States. It turns out that it is growing in popularity in Japan as well. I happen to receive J-List website Newsletter Emails and a recent one talks about Halloween in Japan. After reading the Email I decided that it would be interesting to share it.
J-List newsletter@jlist.com
Fri, Oct 5, 2018
Why Is Halloween so Popular in Japan?
If you scan the snacks page of J-List, you’ll see a lot of Halloween-themed chocolates and other snacks, with lots of scary pumpkins, ghostly ghouls and other seasonal imagery for you to buy. Our Hallowed limited snack box was so popular that we had to make a second version of it!
Halloween has been getting positively huge in Japan, reaching a cultural critical mass that’s caused to explode in popularity, as everyone has fun preparing their cosplay to show off at various parties and parades in the Tokyo area, or just wear around town on October 31st. Halloween has even started showing up in car commercials. But the question of why the Japanese love Halloween so much is a hard one to pin down.
Here are some facts about Halloween in Japan.
By far the biggest reason Halloween exploded in Japan is Disneyland. When Tokyo Disneyland had its first Halloween event in 1980, it was a strange and alien thing to Japanese visitors. Over time, they became accustomed to Halloween related imagery through Disney.
These days, the hip place to celebrate Halloween is the Shibuya area of Tokyo, where tens of thousands of fans gather to show off their extravagant cosplays. A decade or so ago, it was customary for foreigners living in Tokyo to ride the Yamanote loop train line in costume, drinking and generally being annoying to the poor Japanese trapped in the train with them. Happily, things are better these days.
If you’re in Japan during Halloween and want a kid-friendly experience, the Kawasaki Halloween Parade is recommended. This year it’s held on October 28.
The Japanese have their own (sort of) version of Halloween, the Obon Buddhist holidays when the souls of one’s dead ancestors are thought to return home for a visit. The local version of making a Jack-o’-Lantern with the kids is…making horses and cows out of cucumbers and eggplants, with chopsticks for legs, which dear bygone Grandma will symbolically ride home from the afterlife.
While Halloween is fast becoming Japan’s favorite Western holiday, a lot of Japanese aren’t fans. The event causes huge, loud crowds in Tokyo and leaves a big mess on the streets of Shibuya. As Japanese are famous for doing, many kind folks stay behind to help clean up the garbage, but the holiday still takes a toll.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:20 pm
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Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:40 am
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