did you know they celebrate Halloween in Japan now?

[yuiyoshida]

Link to tweet

[MaryMagdaline]

1. Proud of our Celtic heritage!

[Grokenstein]

2. But how do they celebrate it? UPDATE: Link

I mean, last time I checked Japanese Christmas is a bucket of KFC, a cake, and some sing-alongs.

Here's a link to a Japan Rail Pass article about how it caught on and what they do. With pics! The pink teddy bear with bloody claws and mouth? He's Mori Chack's Gloomy, an adorable cartoon mascot who reminds everyone not to mess with wild animals, raised by well-meaning Pity, whom he regularly savages and mutilates.

But I'm not surprised Halloween caught on in the land of Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Yokai Monsters, Uzumaki and Ringu. It's been well over thirty years, but when I was stationed in Japan I brought a few Japanese families on base on Halloween Night to enjoy the goings-on. They were so delighted! One elderly mum fell for the ol' guy-in-mask-pretends-to-be-mannequin bit; I thought she'd have a coronary, but she just cackled with glee and chatted with the guy (via translator) for fifteen minutes. They brought candy to hand out to any trick-or-treaters they encountered along the way and took photos of all the costumes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Oh, my.

It is my understanding that Halloween, as we celebrate in the United States, and apparently elsewhere also, came to us from the Irish. Hooray for my countrymen.

[jmowreader]

4. It seems like Halloween is a holiday tailor-made for Japan

You'll like this: Many years ago, I was reading an interview with Ozzy Osbourne in which he was asked what he liked to dress up as for Halloween. Ozzy replied, "Halloween is the day every year when every person in the world dresses up as Ozzy Osbourne."

[betsuni]

5. Manufacturers tried to make Halloween a thing for a few years. Didn't work.

Big fail. Now not a thing. Pumpkins used to be very expensive, equivalent of thirty dollars or more. Last year nobody bought pumpkins at my local store and they marked them down to a dollar on October 31st. This year, no pumpkins or displays.

[yuiyoshida]

6. mark my words...

TRUMP WILL RUIN XMAS...this year .. he will be the ultimate Grinch.. and New Years may not be so pleasant either... The day JOE BIDEN IS SWORN IN, is the day everyone will celebrate. I hope it happens, I am still concerned about them stealing the election.