Real Halloween in Japan: spooky, scary

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Halloween display in Saitama, Japan

Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. As late as 2009, it was celebrated mainly by expats [36]. The wearing of elaborate costumes by young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about 1,700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween Festival [37].

Blame it on The Simpsons

Celebrations have become popular with (sex and dating obsessed) young adults as a costume party and club event [38]. Trick-or-treating for candy-loving Japanese children has taken hold in some areas.

By the mid-2010s, Yakuza (Japanese mafia members) were giving snacks and sweets to children [39]. However, in recent years, authorities in Tokyo have tried to discourage street drinking on Halloween [40]. More: Halloween in Asia

• Due to the worldwide syndication of The Simpsons, American Halloween traditions are spreading everywhere, like Australia that got Halloween-fever ten years ago, but Buddhist Japan is creepy for all its old Shinto kami and yokai-obsessed folk ways
• The Geography of Halloween

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