Cute Japanese Halloween vs. scary American Halloween
NTV’s “Zoom In” morning show highlights some of the differences between Halloween in Japan and Halloween in the United States:
Some of the information mentioned include…
- Packages of Halloween candy sold in the state are huge (this is at least partly because people need to buy a lot of candy to give out to trick or treaters, a fact that the report doesn’t adequately explain).
- American Halloween candy is often shaped like gross and scary things like skulls and severed hands. Japanese Halloween candy is mostly cute-looking.
- The biggest Halloween events in Japan are costume parades. They visit the Omotesando Halloween Pumpkin parade for a look at some of the costumes. Such events were originally started for foreign children, but now most participants are Japanese.
- We are shown 4 women in Kanagawa prefecture who build an eco-themed costume for a costume contest. It seems that most Japanese people prefer cute costumes.
- Viewers are told that scary costumes are popular in the United States. Their America correspondent puts on some make-up and participates in a Zombie Crawl. Onlookers, including small children, are amused by the zombie costumes.
- To highlight the scaryness of American Halloween, we are given a look at the #1 haunted house in the States: Eastern State Penitentiary’s Terror Behind the Walls.
- The last part is about a Halloween camp for Japanese kids. Families participate in a variety of Halloween-related activities, none of them particularly horrifying or scary.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
New gadgets for Autumn 2009
“Mezamashi TV” shows off some stylish new gadgets for this fall:
- The new Sony Vaio X-series of notebook computers, which are really thin
- A small humidifier shaped like a tree – good for Japan’s dry winters. The remote control is leaf-shaped.
- A desk lamp that can be used to recharge USB gadgets
- A cute new memory card reader from Elecom
- Elecom headphones shaped like plastic building blocks
- Transforming Transformer USB memory sticks
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Technology
Jonte’s Tokyo Night Cruising
I’m not sure what the heck this is, but it was featured on the front page of YouTube Japan:
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange
Halloween events around Tokyo – 2009
Several readers have sent in e-mails requesting information about Halloween events taking place around Tokyo this weekend. Here are a few links:
One of the biggest events tomorrow ill be the Kawasaki Halloween Parade:
This is the most amazing Halloween parade in Japan!!!
The powerful monster parade about 3,000 people dancing along with can be seen only in the Kawasaki city. Don’t miss it !!
【VENUE】
The eastern area of JR Kawasaski station
※This parade will be held if it’s a light rain.
【TIME】
14：30～16：00
※reception for the parade and award participants ：10:30～12:30
Check this site for more details.
Over at Let’s Enjoy Tokyo, there is a Japanese language list of events. CNN Go’s Tokyo section also has links to Halloween parties at a couple of Tokyo’s clubs.
JapanZine has a list that includes parties in other areas of Japan.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
