Halloween & the Japanese economy
The Japan Times reports that Halloween is growing in popularity among Japanese, with businesses seeing increasing sales of Halloween-related products:
“When the economy slumps, people stay home and celebrate anniversaries for their families. Halloween is about kids and parents spending money on them,” Kase said. “And after all, candy and costumes are cheap. Halloween is a reasonable indulgence.”
Spokeswoman Mayumi Funaki of online mall Rakuten Inc. said sales of Halloween goods jumped 45 percent this year thanks to brisk interest in costumes for women and kids.
Discount chain Don Quijote Co. saw its sales of Halloween-related goods rise 20 percent this year, spokeswoman Aya Suzuki said. She also cited increased demand for costumes.
Daiso Sangyo, which runs ¥100 shops, began Halloween campaigns three years ago and the popularity of goods such as witch’s hats, presents bags and stickers has been growing ever since, spokeswoman Hiroko Kusaka said.
Morinaga & Co., a major confectionary maker, is selling 11 Halloween-related products, up from nine last year, and sales have increased 20 percent from a year ago, spokeswoman Kaori Nakamura said.
Here’s a Fuji TV news report about new snack products and the Halloween events at Tokyo Disney:
This is the first year that Tokyo Disney Sea has held special events marking Halloween. At both Tokyo Disney Sea and Disneyland, Halloween festivities will be continuing until November 3rd. If you approach Halloween uniform-wearing staff members and give a “trick or treat” greeting, you’ll receive some free candy.
During the snack portion of the news report, it is mentioned that more companies are now releasing special Halloween products. Sometimes it only involves changing the outside packaging of products, a move that apparently boosts sales.
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Celebrating Halloween in Tokyo Halloween events around Tokyo – 2009 |
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I blame Disneyland (and Disney Sea) for being the main reason behind the recent boom, by consistently and tirelessly promoting Halloween where most Japanese people had no idea what it was before or just didn’t care.
That, and cosplay really taking off in the last decade or so, where it was just a few diehard fans in the years before.
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overheard today in the parking lot of the local grocery – grade school japanese girl to japanese mom – when`s halloween? mom to girl – i don`t know. it`s some foreign thing.
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Well, at least she realised it was foreign.
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helicat, is Disney behind the Halloween Parade in Kawasaki or the number of Halloween parties in bars and clubs which are not all in Roppongi? Plus what about the Halloween stuff at Tokyu Hands, Loft, Don Quixote, and many convenient stores?
It’s basically two things that pushes Halloween – fun and profit. Since there isn’t any real religion tied up with Halloween except for some Christians hating it, it’s an easy holiday to push and make money from in food, drinks, costumes, parties, greeting cards, movies, TV shows, commercials, etc…
The fun factor is that for kids its a chance to dress up and get candy. For adults its the same thing except the added benefit of seeing cute Japanese girls in sexy Halloween outfits.
Halloween easily fits in with Japan because Japan already has a ghostly tradition and a belief of spirits returning with is the core of the original Halloween or Samhain as it was known in Pagan-Celtic Ireland. Japanese elements have long been a part of Halloween in America providing some of the most favorite costumes like ninja, anime characters, samurai, godzilla, etc…
Anyway with the economy the way it is, Halloween is good thing more than ever to get people spending and circulating cash.
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I’m not saying Halloween was unknown in Japan before 2000. Halloween has it’s own easily recognizable and distinctive motifs and characters, so it’s been present at least in anime/game/manga related media for a long time.
But, as a tradition it was still very much a fringe entity for a long time, with the Kawasaki Halloween Parade started only in 1996.
I’ve only actually worked and lived in Japan for the past few years, but even so, I’ve had the suspicion that I’m seeing a big increase in how often I see things like “trick-or-treating” being mentioned in various texts, as well as Halloween-themed candy popping up in convenience stores in the past year or so. The article James posted here backs that suspicion up with numbers.
And I was just guessing that this sudden boom could be at least partially attributable to the constant promotional force by Disney combined with the spread of the cosplay culture in the past decade.
Though it could be just a culmination of the slow trickle of imported American culture over the past half-century, I was guessing that the recent spike to be caused by the lowering of the bar in dressing up under the pretext of cosplay.
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Oktoberfest anyone?
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I’m not German, but I celebrate Oktoberfest. I’m not Mexican, but I celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Halloween is an excuse to have some fun…I don’t see the problem.
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hey.. im german and i dont celebrate Oktoberfest. becuz its bavarian thing.
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If there’s one thing I hate more than how the Americans celebrate Halloween (trick or treat – yuk!), it’s the Japanese taking the American aspect of it all on board.
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Japanese and American Halloween are extremely different.
Frankly, America has Halloween down right. I don’t like it when people look at the obvious things a culture does and assume there’s no actual meaning to it. I love American Halloween- not necessarily the candy, but the sheer feeling American Halloween has. It’s completely different from that found in Japan
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Nah, dressing up and going to party is enough for me.
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There’s no such thing as a Japanese Halloween.
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Sure there is.
Except it’s in the middle of summer and is without the costumes or candy.
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You’re talking about Obon. That has nothing to do with Halloween. Obon is the time in mid-summer when you welcome your deceased family members and ancestor’s spirits back home. It’s done differently according to the region. Usually it accompanies a festival and bon-odori (dance), but in a rather respectable and somewhat solemn mannner.
It has nothing to do with evil spirits and goblins and fairies like the Celtic Samhain nor the Catholic All Hallows eve, and nothing to do with partying to death.
Halloween in America is a lot of fun especially for kids, I agree. But it’s only a consumer thing in Japan, just like Christmas and Valentine’s day. What’s coming next, Thanks giving and St. Patricks day?
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It’s not entirely dissimilar. A quick check of Wikipedia has more details:
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The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off.
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“What’s coming next, Thanks giving and St. Patricks day?”
I really hope not. I would like something to go the other way – maybe Americans could start doing something for Tanabata?
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I’ve been going around telling everyone who would listen, “Invest in turkey farms in Japan! It’s going to be the next big thing!”
After Halloween, my bets are that probably Thanksgiving is going to be imported. With the penchant for importing just the fun-looking customs on the surface for whatever festivities, there’s a chance the Japanese are going to want turkey.
Turkey has a lot of health benefits like low fat and fighting cancer that people obsess over, as well as being fairly inexpensive, so once the name recognition reaches critical mass, the Japanese turkey meat market will surely take off!
fg,
I meant the two were similar in their original meanings, of the spirits of the dead coming back to visit the living.
But yes, as you say, the commercialized bonanza that Halloween is today has little in parallel with Obon.
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OMFG, those girls at the end of the video were truly scary! Ganguro from hell.
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