When asked about Halloween most Japanese say "we don't celebrate it here" - ignoring the fact that almost every shop, cafe and public place is decorated with images of pumkins, witches and black cats. Like with the globalisation of a lot of things, it does seem to be becoming more popular here and at night I noticed quite a few people in costumes heading off to various bars and parties. Japanese Halloween is basically fancy dress - any fancy dress. Dress up as a nurse, a pirate, a cartoon character, it doesn't seem to matter. I suppose it makes a change from hundreds of Scream masks and Draculas.
As always I went out for drinks in Shinjuku with my friend, Gary, who always spends hours making incredibly detailed masks weeks in advance. I borrowed a kimono and bought a black wig and face paint and went as...I don't know what it was really, but it was based on images of kabuki theatre. Other random costumes I saw were guys dressed as white swans, with long balloons for the tails and a girl dressed as the Starbucks logo. Like I said, any resemblance to a "normal" Halloween theme seems to be completely optional.
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