halloween — Simone Miller

As I mentioned in my older entry, overload, Halloween in Japan is bigger than I expected. And living in Shibuya, I was in "the place to be" for all the shenanigans leading up to Halloween night. However, I've noticed that Japan's Halloween focuses mostly on aesthetic; it's more of a holiday for adults with the Halloween brand tacked on. And of course I love Halloween aesthetic (I mean I dyed my hair like a pumpkin for gods sake). It's what excited me the most coming to Japan: seeing everyplace and everywhere done up in Halloween. The only time I'd really see that in the States is if I decided to go to a theme park like Disneyland. So to me, Tokyo was a Halloween wonderland, and I did my best to bask in the glorious spirit of it all.

Because of the focus on the aesthetics, it's more about dressing-up and not necessarily the "spooky" aspect of Halloween. People will still dress up creepy or scary, but not on the same scale as in the States. Growing up, I loved the cute pumpkins, bats, and ghosty-ghouls, but I also watched scary movies and looked forward to the creepy decorations houses would put up. I understand that Japan has commercialized Halloween (and what holiday in the States isn't these days?), so it's interesting to observe in what ways the holiday has been commercialized. There is no trick-or-treating in Japan, if there is, it's an organized event put on by a mall of some sort. Halloween candy and treats are sold, but not for the purpose of handing them out. Decorations are also limited to stores and other commercial places. In Tokyo, Halloween is advertised as a time where it's okay to go crazy. In contrast, I would have to say Halloween in the States is more about community: trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, haunted houses, pumpkin-carving with friends, or even just staying in and watching scary movies together. And of course I missed the spooky aspect of Halloween this year, but at the same time my experiences of Halloween in the States have become increasingly disappointing. Even if Halloween in Japan is celebrated differently, at least it is given the grandeur it so deserves - or at least the grandeur I believe it deserves. Especially as I've gotten older and moved into a college town, nobody cares; it's just another excuse to party with half-assed costumes and decor.

Back to Halloween here. There are a ton of parties and club events leading up to Halloween. People start dressing up as early as a week before the anticipated night, and Shibuya somehow ended up as the epicenter of it all. Hundreds of costumed people gather and just hang out. It's crowded and crazy. It was like a huge anime convention mixed with alcohol that transformed Shibuya into the venue of this outrageous house party. After this, I honestly can't complain about the crowds at Anime Expo anymore. Japan doesn't have any laws against drinking in public, so everyone just hung out on the streets. People were taking pictures or just having conversations with strangers, possibly acting in-character. There were also impromptu dance parties, where people drove their cars around Shibuya blasting music. One car even had their trunk open with a laser show coming out the back. Police patrolled the area to make sure nobody was in the streets blocking car traffic, and people were handing out trash bags and collecting garbage to keep the city tidy. It really shows the two sides of Japan that coexist together: order and disorder.