For Halloween, my son and I took the train down to Kawasaki for probably the biggest Halloween event in Japan. I think I heard someone say 2009 was the 8th year they have been doing the Kawasaki Halloween Parade. Signs said that Kawasaki is Japan’s Halloween city. Kawasaki was smart to grab up this holiday as the Japanese seem to really be getting into Halloween.

I read somewhere that sales of Halloween goods were up between 20 and 40% this year in Japan. Somewhere else I read that items sitting on shelves quickly flew off the shelf once the packaging was changed to a Halloween theme.

The stores were packed and the crowds were large on Halloween in Kawasaki. The parade could probably be even bigger if they had the space. As it is now they limit the number of participants to 3,000 (3 groups of 1,000 with traffic let through in between the groups). Probably 20,000 – 30,000 spectators pour into Kawasaki, like us, to watch.

The above photo is of a small piece of the crowd. The main reason I took this picture is because of the sign in the upper right corner though. Mizonokuchi (溝口) is a place in Kawasaki that I lived back in late 1988 and early 1989. New Year’s Eve 1988 was the last time I was at the Kawasaki Station. Nearly 21 years later I came back for a different holiday. I’ve gone through Kawasaki on the train many times since, but this was my first time setting foot down in the place since the 80s.

I have loads of pictures and two more videos. You’ll get to see a few of the pictures and the other two videos if you check back over the next few days.

Posted on October 31st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: halloween, kawasaki, people, video. Comments: 4

While most Japanese don’t really dress up for Halloween or go trick-or-treating like people do in the states, some dress up whenever they go to Harajuku. Today’s photos were not taken on Halloween or at Halloween parties. These pictures are of typical Harajuku wear (cosplay or costume play).

Posted on October 31st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: halloween, harajuku, people, Tokyo. Comments: 3

The Japanese love pretty things; they love cute things; they love to decorate. They don’t really celebrate Halloween the way we do in the states (although they love to dress up as you’ll see in tomorrow’s entry), but you see more pretty and cute Halloween decorations here than you do in the states. You can also eat hundreds of different Halloween foods in Japan, and I’m not counting the candy. The above picture is of a window display (which has been up since mid-September) on Waseda Doori near Takadanobaba Station that I pass frequently.

Below is a photo taken of an underground store next to the Ginza Station on the Marunouchi Subway Line.

Posted on October 30th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: food, halloween. Comments: None

I have never seen so many pumpkins and Halloween decorations as I have this past month and a half in Japan. There was nothing even remotely Halloweenish 20 years ago in this country. Now Halloween is everywhere. Maybe 20 years from now there will be pilgrims and turkeys all over the place in November? I doubt it, but I certainly wouldn’t have predicted Halloween’s current Japanese fate back in 1989.

Posted on October 29th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: halloween, hello kitty. Comments: 2

Last week we visited Owakudani and some other areas of Hakone for the first time in two and a half years. Mt. Fuji made an appearance or two before quickly hiding itself behind clouds.

Posted on October 28th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: hakone, mt. fuji, susuki. Comments: None