Japan is redefining Halloween.
I know we are well past Halloween as I finally post these pictures, but the insanity that overtakes Tokyo on this holiday deserves at least a belated mention.
For the Japanese, Halloween is all about the adults.
Ten years ago, the holiday went by almost unnoticed in Tokyo.
Corporations started to realize that combining the Japanese love of costumes with a holiday like Halloween was a marketing gold mine.
Bars, nightclubs, and other industries that involve debauchery recognized this as the biggest business opportunity of the year.
With their support, October in Tokyo has become a month of decorations, costume parades and wild parties.
Prior to 2009, Halloween in Japan was mostly celebrated by visiting and resident foreigners.
For the most part, the Japanese had taken little notice, other than expressing annoyance with the rollicking foreigners riding trains in costumes.
As years went on, the holiday steadily gained popularity with many members of the Japanese community. Each year the crowds on subways and streets grew a little bigger...and the parties went on later and later into the evening.
On Halloween, more and more people showed unprecedented disregard for the respectful, polite and peaceful environment that embodies the usual Tokyo subway experience.
Don't get me started on all the beauty that is Tokyo subway...
I'll just say it is operating-room clean, no one boards until politely waiting for everyone that needs to get off, cushioned seats, luggage racks, zero litter anywhere, immaculate bathrooms, non-existent graffiti or vandalism, fully handicap accessible including footpaths for the blind, helpful clerks everywhere with no bulletproof glass, fully wired everywhere for internet access, and so well-known for being on time that the stations quickly hand out late certificates to workers and students in the rare event something actually goes wrong.
In 2009, frustrated Japanese protesters angrily lashed out against loud gaijin (foreigners) riding the subway in costumes on Halloween. Holding signs and shouting, the Japanese yelled "Go to hell! Get out of Japan" at both Japanese and gaijin costumed revelers.
Still, for most people, Halloween seemed like a good idea.
Good for retailers...good for bars and clubs...and an annual chance for citizens to dress up and step outside of their daily dignified and orderly ways.
Today, it seems the participation has gotten a bit larger than anyone imagined.
Now Halloween is one of the biggest holidays in Japan, and the excited participants are mostly adults, not children.
Yes, the little elementary school children do participate in orderly, polite trick-or-treating from precisely 5-8 pm.
For the adults, however, Halloween activities FILL and define October, many wearing costumes all month, with parties and parades every weekend.
While I will admit my husband and I did attend a party...
...ours was considerably more sedate than what goes on out in the late night streets of Roppongi.
Corporations started to realize that combining the Japanese love of costumes with a holiday like Halloween was a marketing gold mine.
Bars, nightclubs, and other industries that involve debauchery recognized this as the biggest business opportunity of the year.
With their support, October in Tokyo has become a month of decorations, costume parades and wild parties.
Prior to 2009, Halloween in Japan was mostly celebrated by visiting and resident foreigners.
For the most part, the Japanese had taken little notice, other than expressing annoyance with the rollicking foreigners riding trains in costumes.
As years went on, the holiday steadily gained popularity with many members of the Japanese community. Each year the crowds on subways and streets grew a little bigger...and the parties went on later and later into the evening.
On Halloween, more and more people showed unprecedented disregard for the respectful, polite and peaceful environment that embodies the usual Tokyo subway experience.
Don't get me started on all the beauty that is Tokyo subway...
I'll just say it is operating-room clean, no one boards until politely waiting for everyone that needs to get off, cushioned seats, luggage racks, zero litter anywhere, immaculate bathrooms, non-existent graffiti or vandalism, fully handicap accessible including footpaths for the blind, helpful clerks everywhere with no bulletproof glass, fully wired everywhere for internet access, and so well-known for being on time that the stations quickly hand out late certificates to workers and students in the rare event something actually goes wrong.
Still, for most people, Halloween seemed like a good idea.
Good for retailers...good for bars and clubs...and an annual chance for citizens to dress up and step outside of their daily dignified and orderly ways.
Today, it seems the participation has gotten a bit larger than anyone imagined.
 |
| Shibuya on October 31, 2015 |
Yes, the little elementary school children do participate in orderly, polite trick-or-treating from precisely 5-8 pm.
While I will admit my husband and I did attend a party...
...ours was considerably more sedate than what goes on out in the late night streets of Roppongi.
On October 31, the streets, clubs, bars and stores are jammed with costumed adults....and the partying goes on until morning.
This year saw the largest crowds ever...and the biggest mess to clean up.
The normally gleaming, litter-free streets of Tokyo were a depressing sight.
Once again, many are speaking out against this holiday that has spun out of control.
Unfortunately, too many have a vested interest in keeping this scary but profit-making party going...indefinitely.
Loving the dignity of Japan as I do, this makes me more than a little sad.
The normally gleaming, litter-free streets of Tokyo were a depressing sight.
Once again, many are speaking out against this holiday that has spun out of control.
Unfortunately, too many have a vested interest in keeping this scary but profit-making party going...indefinitely.
Loving the dignity of Japan as I do, this makes me more than a little sad.
.
Sad, indeed. The genie is out of the bottle! Who's next with this Bacchanalian madness, N.Korea?
ReplyDelete