Cute Japanese Halloween vs. scary American Halloween
October 31st, 2009 by James
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.
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They don’t seem to understand that Halloween’s not supposed to be about cute don’t they?
they’re totally wrong!
I think a cute Halloween is better than a scary Halloween. It is suppose to be a time of joy after all.
Not terribly. It’s supposed to be the time when you get all the scary stuff out of your system so you can be good for Christmas…
i guess it’s about vandalism? What do u care, ppl loves to celebrate their way.
Well it’s not like we don’t have our share of non-scary costumes and candy either. I mean, we’ve seen plenty of the ever-popular princesses, fairies, Superman (Supermen?), sexy nurses/French maids, etc. over the past few decades. Then there’s candy corn, generic snack-size candy bars, and those horrible orange peanuts.
Not to say that the video is wrong in its assessments (can’t access it right now), just that the scary aspects have by no means been “necessary” for celebrating Halloween in the U.S. for quite some time.
thats true, they forgot to mention that when you turn 18 and go to college, Halloween turns into a holiday where costumes aren’t scary or cute, just mad whorish
Again this is the japanese cute vs. usa’s sexy thing on dressing up.
What terrible reporting. As bad as the Western reporting on Japan that is often disparaged here. Most US kids wear cute costumes, not scary ones. Many adults even wear non scary costumes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone giving out the “scary” candy, although I’m sure some do–it’s usually just bite sized packets of normal candy.
Japanese Halloween is for pussies. Needs more severed lambs’ heads.
Best comment I’ve read in years
this is all hello kitty’s fault
Japanese think their copy of Halloween is better than original. It is their culture: copy and improve.
Unfortunately Halloween, Christmas, are not cars.
“Japanese Halloween” is an oxymoron. It’s just another holiday Japan has assimilated, like Christmas.
Probably because Japanese holidays, like Ocean Day and Respect for Elders Day, are boring and lame.
Yeah, I can’t believe the crazy shit Americans get up to on Presidents’ Day.
“Japanese Halloween” is an oxymoron. It’s just another holiday Japan has assimilated, like Christmas. —
christmas is not assimilated in Japan.neither is it a holiday. the new year is it.
“From the 1960s, with the aid of a rapidly expanding economy, and influenced by American TV dramas, Christmas became popular, but mostly not as a religious occasion. For many Japanese, celebrating Christmas is similar to participating in a matsuri, where participants often do not consider which kami is being celebrated, but believe that the celebration is a tribute nevertheless. From the 1970s onwards, many songs and TV drama series presented Christmas from a lover’s point of view, for example ‘Last Christmas’ by Exile.
The birthday of the current emperor, Akihito, on December 23 is a national holiday. Shortly thereafter businesses close for the New Year’s holidays, usually reopening on the first weekday after January 3.”
aside that all Halloween is not a holiday either. O-Bon is..
“Yeah, I can’t believe the crazy shit Americans get up to on Presidents’ Day.”
Compare the amount of lame Japanese holidays to lame Yankee holidays. Variety is the spice of life; Yanks know how to celebrate!
longus dickus:
Christmas is indeed a holiday, as is Halloween and O-Bon. You’re lumping all holidays into national holidays. Christmas is a religious holiday, that in Japan is more about dates and the Fat Man in the Red Suit driving a red Toyota (i.e. assimilated in Japan).
See you at the Halloween Party in Shibuya, I’ll buy you a beer to celebrate this “not a holiday”! ;p
Why, then, after carefully noting that Halloween is a holiday but not a public holiday, did you list two public holidays that are not “traditional” holidays in your listing of Japanese holidays? Compare like with like, please – which is why I made my comment about Presidents’ Day.
Because they were the holidays mentioned in the reply to my original comment by longus dickus.
It was mentioned that Christmas and Halloween are not holidays, they’re indeed religious holidays that were assimilated into Japan, which was my original argument.
How about these:
President’s Day: Learn about your forefathers and have a barbecue all day with cherry pie! Read the Ghettysbug address. Take a trip to D.C.. It’s not Washington’s Birthday, but it used to be.
Children’s Day: Fly streamers and decorate your house! …but only if you have a boy.
Or how about:
Emperor’s Birthday: Wave flags at the Imperial family for about 3 minutes, then be directed to leave while rightists scream at you as you leave! Half the fun is trying to ignore them every year.
C’mon, you’re The Overthinker. Put the Straw-Man down.
No. Your initial post was the one that mentioned Ocean Day and Respect for Elders Day. You draw a disctinction between artificial government-imposed holidays and traditional holidays in your reply to longus, yet in your initial post you listed two government-imposed holidays in a discussion about a tradional holiday. That is my point. And I have no idea why you consider it a straw man.
You were the person who first brought up Ocean Day and Respect for the Aged Day in a discussion on Halloween – in other words, you introduced two government-fiat holidays and explicity compared them with a traditional holiday like Halloween. Compare like with like, please – which is why I made my comment about Presidents’ Day.
Christmas is a religious holiday, that in Japan is more about dates and the Fat Man in the Red Suit driving a red Toyota (i.e. assimilated in Japan). —
first of all its not a relligious holyday in Japan.(unless you are living in a chritians comunity)
Neither is “fat dude in red clothes” a holy bishop Saint Nicholas (its a Coca Cola old fart fantasy giving gifts around and pretending of being the Sain Nicholas. to see him driving in a toyota car doesnt make him a religious or representance of Christmas.) Nor do japanese get together in the christian churches and celebrate the brith of Jesus Christus. so it is a very long way from being a religious or “assimilated”.
To be fair Japan has more holidays than the US so it’s cool if some of them are not so exciting. Nice to have a day off to relax sometimes.
I think Japan did a better job assimilating Christmas. I find Christmas to be a lot more fun without the religious stuff. Although I wish they would not put the decorations up so early. Last year I saw Christmas decorations up a week after Halloween. Anyway, Halloween without trick or treats is kind of like Christmas without presents (at least for kids).
“I find Christmas to be a lot more fun without the religious stuff.”
This is an insult to Christmas, it has no meaning without the religious aspects and just becomes another commercial orgy.
Well, Christmas is just Christians taking a ride on older festivals. Christmas is really nothing to do with the birthdate of Christ, which is not stated in the Bible and could not be December 25th anyway. Early Christians simply grafted on their religion to an older established holiday to make it more acceptable. Just like Easter. Yet despite that, many of the pagan symbols of both remain, from the tree to the bunny.
@The Overthinker
you are wrong about Christmas (wich is Jesus Christ birthday in a first matter.)
and you are right about integration of pagan holydays into own relligious calendar.
aside that i agree with aussie.
@pixel_bomber
dude. again japanese celebrate the New Year Holidays the christmas (wich is a part of this NEW YEAR holidays ceebration) is only a very small part of original christmas tradition. (giving gifts and being with family)
in my opinion the only holyday wich is realy assimilated and developed at perfect in Japan is the Saint Valentine’s Day.
I am not wrong. Christmas was not the birth of Christ, nor did the holiday originate with Christians.
—I am not wrong. Christmas was not the birth of Christ, nor did the holiday originate with Christians.–
whahahahaha hahahahah.. seriously why are you trying to sell apples by colouring them orange?
“Christmas (pronounced /ˈkrɪsməs/), also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.”
Did you just neglect to read the second sentence which follows your Wikipedia quote?
Christmas (pronounced /ˈkrɪsməs/), also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is unknown whether this day is Jesus’ actual date of birth, and the date of celebration may have been chosen to correspond with either a Roman festival, or the winter solstice.
That sure seems to confirm what The Overthinker was saying.
Try this site as well, which is Christians arguing that celebrating Christmas is an unChristian thing to do….
http://www.ucg.org/issues/gn43/bornchristmas.htm
That sure seems to confirm what The Overthinker was saying–
no it doesnt. it just say that the date is mixed with roman festival. neither do celebrate the roman festival nor do we follow romanian pagan relligion.
Christmas doesn’t exactly correspond with the Winter Solstice (which was a Roman holiday) as it is a couple of days later, but there is a reason for that (and it has nothing to do with Christ, any Bible scholar will tell you what few clues are in the New Testament point to him being born in the spring): under Jewish law, a baby boy was taken to the temple 7 days after birth for circumcision.
The Feast of the Circumcision is a Catholic high holy day – back in the old days it was one of those days where everyone was effectively required to attend Mass. The Feast of the Circumcision is January 1st (7 days after Christmas). New Year’s Day predates Christianity and was another day of drunken revelry in pre-Christian Rome.
By sticking Christmas on the 25th the Catholic Church managed to effectively co-opt two pagan holidays with one deity. Smart scheduling.
“no it doesnt. it just say that the date is mixed with roman festival. neither do celebrate the roman festival nor do we follow romanian pagan relligion.”
I seriously wonder about your comprehension. Read what I said. “Christmas was not the birth of Christ, nor did the holiday originate with Christians.”
Wait – I think I see it. You seem to think that I am so thick that I think the modern festival has nothing Christian about it and that we are all celebrating Saturnalia or something. However I never denied it. I said it is not really about the birth of Christ – that was grafted on by circa 4th century Christians – under the protests of a lot of other Christians, mind.
Incidentally, what is your native language?
LB – also, mucking about with calendars will likely have changed the date of the winter solstice.
I’m not sure why you guys are bothering with this argument. Christmas is as religious now as a daily trip to the toilet.
The whole event is simply an excuse to put up lights and buy/receive presents. It’s still a great time to meet up with old friends and family, but I’ve rarely heard the word Christ mentioned outside of church.
Christ, really? Well, thank Christ for that then….
@Overthinker
Read what I said. “Christmas was not the birth of Christ, nor did the holiday originate with Christians.” —
to say that you must know when the Jesus was born. sooo, can you tell us when he was “realy” born?
Incidentally, what is your native language?
Numerous Biblical scholars have concluded that, from the scant evidence in the Bible, Christ would have been born in the spring, or possibly the autumn, but certainly not winter. That is if he was really born at all, which is a matter of doubt.
Oh, can you actually present any evidence Christ WAS born on Christmas Day? Anything from the Bible, that is, not later attributions, which (as I have demonstrated) are not accurate.
You are way out of your depth here….
The Overthinker said as a reply to aussie,
Well, Christmas is just Christians taking a ride on older festivals. Christmas is really nothing to do with the birthdate of Christ, …
Christmas is really nothing to do with the birthdate of Christ, but it is formally related to the birth of him, right?
What is the point of this awfully deviated debate?
I don’t know … I could describe those times when long-awaited relief arrives as being quite a euphoric experience
longus dickus stubbornus
I’m now worrying about helical, hoping that helical did not mistake that part as “…as a daily trip in the toilet.”
@The Overthinker
–longus dickus stubbornus–
yeahh?
–Oh, can you actually present any evidence Christ WAS born on Christmas Day? Anything from the Bible, that is, not later attributions, which (as I have demonstrated) are not accurate.–
you demonstrated nothing. i dont need to present any evidences. i never told he was born in this day. i told you that we celebrate his birth in this day. wich is a whole point for the Christmas. no birth celebration = no relegious and official holiday = no fat guy in red clothes = no gifts and wishes in a name of Jesus Christ and get together. and MY POINT WAS THE JAPANESE DONT ASSIMILATED CHRISTMAS AT ALL BUT INTEGRATED SOME CHRISTSMAS CUSTOMS INTO OWN NEW YEAR PARTY. My talking was over many posting before it was you are started to jump over yearly christians and where the christmas is from.
and now tell me who is the studborn here?!
no birth celebration = no relegious and official holiday = no fat guy in red clothes = no gifts and wishes in a name of Jesus Christ and get together.
Quite incorrect. You may want to read up on what you talk about before commenting next time.
Christmas was a winter festival.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#History
We owe the fat man to Coca-Cola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus
“yeahh?”
The eloquence of your riposte floors me. But then what else to expect from someone with the screen name of “longus dickus”?
“and now tell me who is the studborn here?!”
Oh, I’m very studborn. Born of a stud, am a stud.
And don’t forget that YOU responded to something that *I* posted, not the other way around. You are the one dragging this out for no obvious reason.
The eloquence of your riposte floors me. But then what else to expect from someone with the screen name of “longus dickus”? —
that is comming from “the overthiker”. lol..
—-And don’t forget that YOU responded to something that *I* posted, not the other way around. You are the one dragging this out for no obvious reason.—-
i responded nothing. i just dont let you being an arrogant arsehole who think the last word makes his blabering being the truth..
Christmas was a winter festival.—
dude.. Christmas is still a winter festival.
We owe the fat man to Coca-Cola–
“the fat man in red”
dude.. Christmas is still a winter festival.–
revision! in the southern hemisphere its a summer festival.
“i responded nothing. i just dont let you being an arrogant arsehole who think the last word makes his blabering being the truth.”
Now you are simply lying. You did respond to me, and the proof is there for all to see. Your increasingly desperate attempts to salvage something from the wreckage of your responses is embarassing you. As is your equating of a smutty childish screen name like “longus dickus,” which represents the sort of “humour” most people grow out of before they hit their teens, with something like “overthinker,” which is not remotely smutty or childish. Unless you seriously think my screen name is “overthiker” (as in over-thicker) and that it refers to something smutty, in which case you have demonstrated a complete failure to even read.
And for God’s sake learn to spell. It makes your comments seem even more inane.
Now you are simply lying. You did respond to me, and the proof is there for all to see—
lol.. still trying to say the last word?
My ego is not that fragile. Since this is the second time you have brought the “last word” issue up, I assume,however, that yours is (the “longus dickus” name indicates issues there, too, come to think of it…). However if you like I assure you I will not say anything more in this particular thread. No need really.
My ego is not that fragile.–
seriously, i do not care about your ego.
–However if you like I assure you I will not say anything more in this particular thread. No need really.–
i like you doing that. if you dont need anyway.
Valentines day was invented to sell greeting cards and chocolate.
But actually Japan was that holiday all messed up as well (assuming we are comparing to the US since the topic was US holidays). In Japan women give chocolate to men on Valentines day. White day in Japan is the one where men give things to women (like valentines in other countries). Anyway, I don’t really care just pointing out that it has been altered in the process of assimilating it.
The only Christmas tradition I have observed in Japan has been gift giving really. All of the other things that happen around Christmas here could be attributed to New Years like you said. My point was that I like presents and Christmas decorations. So yea I think they do a fine job with Christmas. I like big commercial orgies.
Actually valentines day did have a beginning in old european pagan tradition. It was celebrated in Rome because it was believed that day birds found thier mates. As we all know birds are a pair bonding species like us (though we are still evolving into it, we still have some legacy behaviours). From that Doves became the symbol of love not only because they pair bonded but they died of old age within minutes from each other. If they could survive untill then of course. Any bible scholars will tell you a few thing about christmas. 1 Jesus might not have even existed. 2 if he did he was born in the summer. December the 25 was chosen to coincide with another Roman pagan holiday of a winter feast. They chose that day so pagans can relate to it. Though modern aspects of those traditions are brought to us by businesses who want to make some money. Why not, we still need to buy some people stuff but now getting laid is basicaly a sure deal so bottoms up.
This is a conspiracy of confectionery makers.ww
I thought American kids put on zombie make-up and go to local parks to see turtles during Halloween.
Makes sense. Women handle the family budget in Japan, so Halloween in Japan is womanly.
One of the main reasons Halloween in Japan is so different is because it is not celebrated by children, or at least not in the same way as the US. A few kids here and there might dress up if their parents are into it, but there is no trick or treating going on. In Japan they only have the “treat” part of the equation. And even then you don’t get them for free from your neighbors. You remove the “tricks” from Halloween and it becomes a lot less scary. Also lets not forget Japan is the home of cosplay, I’m sure plenty people just look at it like another reason to dress up. Anyway, this does not seem surprising or news worthy. Just another failure by the Japanese media.
It’s not a news item but a sort of trivia, broadcasted on busy morning in a morning show. Supposed audiences of it might be busy for preparation or at breakfast. It’s not a serious news material nor a news commentary, but rather (in my opinion), it is supposed to provide a little knowledge, as worthless (to Japanese) as the daily life of chimpanzees in the rain forest, which might be useful for conversation with colleagues and friends at lunch time. These knowledge might be far more useful than knowledge on the chimpanzees especially if it is something related to a seasonal event. It may not be surprising to you but it might be surprising for a Japanese person who knows nearly nothing about Halloween itself, its roots, and its reception in the U.S. and other countries. The followings are few minor things not mentioned in the body:
1. The roots of Halloween is explained as a Celtic festival to celebrate the fall harvest and to think of the dead. It explains that Halloween corresponds to, so to speak, Obon in Japan. (At the beginning)
2. It explains that Americans tend to think the ghosts as “winter things” in contrast to Japanese who often regard them as “summer things”. (In Japan, ghost tours and telling scary stories are often associated with summer. In the 2nd last topics)
The clip basically emphasizes differences but implies similarities just a little at the same time. It should not be interpreted nor assessed as a serious news material but it is, probably, just a wasteful knowledge for busy people.
It’s called Halloween from “All Hallow’s Eve” because the day after is All Saint’s day, or All Hallow’s Day.
ppl believed that all demons and evil spirits seem to try to hijack the first day of november but are all stuck on the day before.
So it’s like Mardi Gras in Nov, basically.
What they should do in the west? Celebrate O-bon and bastardize Japanese culture (even more)
Why not? It’s not like the Japanese are purists when it comes to Western culture.
Well, for the record, Japanese Horror films are far scarier than anything American cinema is capable of producing. There’s a certain kind of suspense that American films lack.
American ‘horror’ is just boring now with everything played out and being ‘remade’ over and over, or there being 6 sequels like SAW.
I wish people realized that sequels should never go beyond a trilogy, and should only go that far if they’re actually scary. Anything more and they’re just greedy attention whores.
I like Japanese halloween better… because it needs to be fun and i suppose it should be celebrated with family and friends… NOT like U.S. scary, without family, always like the darkness their teenagers, dark means cool.. vandalizing.. i just cant imagine what will they be, if since little kids already been introduce into darkness, violent, hatred, lots of swearing.. you can see that from the personality of the teenagers.. no respect to parent, teacher, others.. most of music like hardcore, lots of swearing, full of darkness, girls with bikinis to be famous whereas in Japan those things are not the main things to be famous.
anyhow we’d better to deeply consider about what kind of costume we should choose.
caviler exsists anywhere.ww
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/illegal-alien-halloween-costume-sparks-controversy-pulled-target/story?id=8931414
I am shocked, shocked, to see stereotypes on Japanese TV!
Obaachan is right – they spend their libido on making Halloween costumes.
I had never seen any sign of coming Halloween here in the area I’m living after all. They seem to have nearly completely failed to reveal actual degree of permeation of Halloween in Japan, at least, for ordinary people living outside of the Kanto region. I see clear sign of coming 七五三 (Shichi-Go-San), held annually on November 15 or in November, and a few for the new year instead. There are several houses nearby which are decorated at Christmas every year, but residents of these houses seem to be entirely uninterested in Halloween.
Nobody think about a zombie appears from a pot? A pot of ash(es)?
A cultural difference!
Yeah. I was told by a guy from Jamaica that the term ‘zombie’ originated from the witchcraft of West Africa. Exported with slavery to the Caribbean it became Voodoo or black magic. The secret of the witchdoctor was to apply enough puffer fish toxin to a victim to put them into a temporary state of paralysis so they appeared dead. The ‘body’ was buried in a shallow grave in front of witnesses and after a day or so, dug up. Behold; the body was alive again but in a ‘zombie’ state as the effects of the toxin wore off. This gave the witch doctor much kudos and respect for his powers to raise the dead. The skill was knowing how much toxin to give. Too much and the ‘zombie’ dies or too little and they do not appear dead. Just don’t try it at home kids.
Puffer fish is yummy. Anyway, I will try it outdoors Mark!
Take care mate!
Hmm…at 1:32 they explain the large size, I thought pretty fully too:
「…ホームパティーなど開くときに、たくさんの子供にいっせんにお菓子を配ることができるからなんだそうです。」
So…it’s big so they can put out the candy at home parties and give it our to children.
I haven’t noticed on that until now… Maybe, I had concentrated too much on the part they play with a Japanese stereotype of Americans.
It’s annoying to watch these Japan vs American segments. Its like a mishmash of one-sided, half assly reported, nonsense that just further blurs the conception of Americans.
Like, when they showed the big ass bag of candy, ” Sasuga, America ”
…. Yeah, great reporting.
Then again, this is a wide show. Their news credibility is next to none.
America large! Japan small! Sadly, these two stereotypes may live along far more longer than I expect…
PS: I’m not takling about something on the crotch.
Yeah, but American servings are large, American are (or were) large, American houses are getting larger and larger, and American waistlines are even larger. America does “large” very well. It’s not a total stereotype.
It must be true. However, the interest is rather in the mutually auxiliary nature of these two simplified remarks here, although it is a mere assumption. Not actually in how well it reflects the reality, on the presupposition that most people do not care about it really seriously.
Hey, look at that. I live about four blocks from Eastern State Penitentiary! The lines for the haunted house thing are insane at this time of year. Makes walking/driving by there a big pain in the ass.
All your Halloweens now belonging to us!
is cute Halloweens
Hail Satan Halloween Horror
nothing cute about Halloweens