is halloween in japan

I was kinda whondering if the tradition of halloween is in japan. ive seen a few animes depict it but i wasn't realy sure if they realy do have it.

We Japanese usually don't have halloween custom in Japan.
Even if it exists, it is among the people who are aliens or used to live oversea and so on.

I think the U.S. is about the only country that is so big in Trick or Treating, if that's what you're asking.

But the existance of this custom is now quite well-known in Japan, except that as mentioned, not many people actually do it.

Halloween in Japan has more young adults enjoying costume parties than kids knocking on doors. Rarely, some expat districts have Trick or Treating events though, and in recent years, the orange color pumkins have become more available at a lot of markets.

Since I moved out of our apartment building and in to our house last year, I've been putting Jack-o-Lanterns outside our door with a notice saying that people are welcome to come for candy on the evening of Oct. 31.

Last year, the girl accross the street brought a bunch of 10 year olds. They all were in their normal clothes, but one of them said, "Hey, I might wear a costume next year." This year so far, I had a Cinderella, two Scary Movie boys, and the girl accross the street acompanied by her big brother. No one has yet yelled "Trick or Treat" though.

Right now it's 5:30pm on the 31st here in Japan. Let's see how many more I'll get. Oh, I just had a pumpkin mask and an animal ring my door!

i guess its a half adopted tradition becomeing sorta popular?
well i'm dressed as a made (me and my mother made the costume.)
and even though i'm 18 i'm thinking of trick or treating.

I have lived in Japan for 6 years and I will say this, some Japanese people do celebrate the holiday, these are people that have never been abroad before and using the term "aliens" isn't being very friendly to the foreigners in Japan, When I moved to my house 3 years ago I was surprised that some of the familys around the hood were doing trick or treating, they sent everyone a newsletter saying it was going to happen on a certain date. I decorated the house in Halloween style for the kids and they all really enjoyed it . Plus giving them foreign candy was something new for them (Thanks Mom!).

CMJ, what will you be dressed as this year?

CJM posted that 3 years ago, so possibly isn't following this thread any more...

It's interesting looking back on this thread, since now in Tokyo at least I can't get away from halloween decorations, candy and the like. It is literally everywhere!

How was the turn-out of the haloween on your doorstep?

Hi Pinay girl!

I was just reviewing this thread because I had a question to ask, and eventually it brought back so many memories!

I notice that I wrote no one said, "Trick or Treat!" in 2004, but this year ALL 11 or so kids said "Trick or Treat!" at my doorstep! (except the ones who are too little to talk!) The ex-Cinderella even bothered to yell that in Japanese (okashi o kurenaito itazura suruzo)!

Now, here's my question. Although Halloween is getting this much popular in Japan, I'm still about the only person welcoming stranger Trick-or-Treaters in my neighborhood. I can't seem to find sweets that are cute and safer at the same time when it's already hard enough to find Halloween sweets itself here in Japan. Sweets in Halloween design all contain a lot of artificial coloring, artificial flavoring and artificial preserves.

SO MY QUESTION IS; does anyone know if there are "safer" Halloween sweets available in Japan? Perhaps along the lines of organic sweets? If not, do they exist in the U.S. or elsewhere? If so, I'm going to request that to the Foreign Buyer's Club for next year.

Thanks for reading and awaiting responses!

Ucosan,
Many American no longer give out candy & have changed to treats that are better for you. They give dried fruit snacks, apples, little boxes of raisins, little bags of roasted peanuts, etc... So you can switch to other "natural" snacks and you will still be doing Halloween American style!
Did you carve a pumpkin? Can you find large pumpkins in Japan? Carving a kabocha would be tough!

Thanks cf!

Actually, I did get boxes of raisins when I used to be a kid in L.A. But since I'm practically introducing an American custom to our neighbors, I thought a more Halloween-ish design will be ideal. (Don't they make raisins in Spooky boxes?!)

I do carve a Jack-o-Lantern every year. American style orange pumpkins are sold at a lot of supermarkets and flower shops today. The size is usually ideal too (a bit smaller than a foot diameter). Surprizingly, unlike the ones I used to carve as a child, I find it quite easy to carve the ones sold here. Maybe since the pumpkins don't sell much, those left over have become ripe and solf :)

This year, a mantis was living in my Jack-o-Lantern for a while and didn't run away even after I lit a candle inside, which entertained some of the children.

This year I grew my own pumpkin in my garden in Japan from seeds from Canada. It was really easy to carve. I took it to work and put it on my desk and everyone was really impressed. I guess that even though many many stores in Japan have Hallowe`en decorations these days, not many people go about carving a jack-o-lantern or know how to (not that it is difficult, but having a smaller knife than a Japanese `houchou` does make it easier!).

This year was the first time in many years that I carved a pumpkin and just as an intersting note, the smell of a freshly carved pumpkin was very `natsukashii`!

PS. Hallowe`en is also celebrated in Canada as it is in the USA and its orgins are from All Hallow`s Eve in the UK.

Ria, can you give me some tips on how you can grow a pumpkin in your garden? I might try it with the seeds I get from next year's pumpkin (long way to go...)

Do you need a big space? Do you end up with loads of pumpkins you don't need?? How much water, sun and fertilizer do you need? When do you plant it to have it ready by Halloween? Thanks in advance.

By the way, I always carve mine with a fruit knife. And I do know a funny story about not knowing how.

A Japanese friend of mine (although she used to live in Hawaii) carved one in Japan from a Japanese dark green pumpkin. That is not a problem, except that it was hard to distinguish the face during daytime. The funny thing is that since she thought it was a waste, she ate the contents. So the Jack-o-Lantern ended up very thin and sort of fluffy. That was okay too. Then the lady across the street rang her bell telling she should "watch out because someone put a creepy object on her porch". It was a time when the media was wild about a bizarre murderer who put a human head in front of a school.

Uco,

There is very little work involved in growing pumpkins. In fact, I can remember that in Canada when we composted our pumpkin seeds and later in the year put the composted soil into the garden as fertilizer the pumpkin seeds from the year before would voluntarly pop up and we would have several `free` pumpkin plants. The same goes for zuccini and squash.

As for planting pumpkins in Japan, the method is the same as for kabocha (you can refer to the instructions on the back of a kabocha seed package). I planted mine in late April of this year (the package says to make sure you wait until after the last frost before planting) and there was about 1 or 2 pumpkins per plant. Depending on conditions, you can get more, but if you limit it to 1 or two the pumpkins will be bigger. As for preparing the soil, I have a bit of a garden, so I mix in chicken or cow manure. You can buy it at JA or a home center. Plant the seeds about 3cm deep in the soil.

The pumpkin plants take up a fair bit of space because they grow as a vine-like plant. If you have ever seen melons or watermelons growing in someone`s garden in Japan, they take about the same amount of space. (Out of interest, pumpkins and mellons, watermellons , zuccini and squash all come from the same spieces of plant, but I am sure that you know that because the use the same kanji).

As for watering, I didn`t do anything in particular. The roots of the plant seem to cover a large area just under the surface of the soil, so it seems to be able to get moisture over a large area. Of course, when the seed has just popped through the soil and there are only a couple of leaves, it is more likely to dry out, so make sure it doesn`t dry out.

As I said, the pumpkin plants tend to streach over a large area, so when planting them the package recomends planting them 1 meter apart. If you don`t have much space, you could limit yourself to one plant.

Some of the pumpkins were ready by mid August. In fact, when I wasn`t around, my boyfriend accedently cut the stem of the pumpkin plant with a weed-eater (草刈り機) and I wasn`t actually sure that the pumpkin would survive until October 31st, but sure enough, I kept it on a shelf in the kitchen and it survived just fine with out rotting.

I have also saved my seed from this year and I have them on a tray to dry them out. According to a book that I have regarding saving seeds, you should make sure the seed is completely dried out before putting the seeds in a zip-lock bag. You should aim to keep the seeds as dry as possible until planting. The book also recomends putting your seeds in the fridge, but at the very least, make sure they are kept from getting wet. Apparently the seeds if kept dry are good for at least 3 years.

Other than that, there isn`t much more that I can recomend. If you plant has lots of flowers (they are large yellow flowers, by the way) and no fruit, then there is a method to help with the pollination that I have tried. Basically there are male and female flowers on the same plant and you can help pollinate them by using a small paint brush and dusting the female flowers with the pollen from the male flowers. It is best to do it in the early morning before the flower closes up.

These instructions are getting to be a bit too detailed and I don`t want to scare you (no reference to Hallowe`en!), so I will leave it there.

In reality, it should be relatively easy to grow pumpkins as long as you have a bit of space in your garden. Good luck!

Thank you Ria, for your detailed info! Unfortunately, my garden is very tiny and I usually plant cucumbers (which makes a great shade and tasty salad) during summer. But since it seems so easy, I might plant some seeds here and there to see how far I can get. If that works, I'll be saving about 2000 yen!

my friend in kyoto dresses up with her friends for halloween, as someone mentioned..

I have to say, I saw more evidence of Halloween than I expected in Japan. I was in Japan from 10/22 through 11/6, and saw more than a few shops with Halloween (and now, Christmas!) decorations, accessories and such. Even one of the hotels had Halloween decorations up in their restaurant, but may be because they regularly have foreigners in there.

I was in Okayama on 10/31 and had forgotten it was Halloween until we came across a couple of girls near the JR station that were dressed up. One was a witch, and I forget what the other had dressed up as. Later than night we walked by a cafe that was having a Halloween party.

The girls in there hadn't dressed up that elaborately, though, one girl looked like she just put bunny ears on. The girls at Harajuku have much more intricate costumes.

Thanks for telling your story. You seem to be a sweet person doing all those stuff for the kids! Wish you well!