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Japan's biggest Halloween parade drew some 100,000 spectators in Kawasaki on Sunday.
Kawasaki City officials said about 3,500 people in costumes participated in Kawasaki Halloween 2011, which included a costume contest as well as the parade. The event drew 500 participants more than last year, including both foreign and Japanese children, teenagers and adults, officials said.
© Japan Today
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Elbuda Mexicano
WOW! Tokyo needs to also celebrate Halloween like down there in Kawasaki!
ExportExpert
Never really got this whole Halloween thing to be honest. Just a fancy dress party and cant see what all the fuss is about, is there supposed ot be a meaning to it or ?
anglootaku
Aside from cosplay, wheres the scarier looking costumes :P
Chandra Sheppard
ExportExpert,
Halloween was originally a Celtic festival to celebrate the beginning of winter. It was believed that this was also the time that the spirit world was closest to the living and able to mingle among the living. The costumes came from the idea of mingling with demons, fairies, ghosts and all manner of supernatural beings, a blurring of the lines between human and supernatural. As Halloween was assimilated into the Christian traditions it's name changed and the traditions changed, much as Christmas caroling came from wassailing Trick or Treat came from a'soulin for soul cakes to honor the dead. As this took on a performance in exchange for the cakes, just like caroling for wassail, it transitioned into what we see today. So the answer is the meaning depends on who you ask and in what century.
tmarie
Pretty sure all those Halloween companies are laughing all the way to the bank. They've been pushing it for years and seems to have caught on. Yippee! Another useless day for the Japanese to celebrate incorrectly!!
Fadamor
Halloween is a pseudo "holiday" in the U.S. We get it marked on the calendar, but almost nobody gets the day off. I don't know of ANY parades, though there certainly might be some around the country.
The term "trick or treat" is actually, when you get right down to it, a form of extortion. "Give us a treat or we'll perform a "trick" on your property." (Usually some form of vandalism involving eggs or toilet paper.) That aspect is lost on the little kids because they see it as simply the catch-phrase you have to say to get candy from your neighbors, but beware any teenagers that come around. Some of them take the threat seriously.
For adults, the holiday is an excuse for a lively costume party. We don't really have other opportunities for costume parties (except maybe Mardi Gras in the southern states) so for most of us, this is it for "dressing up". Don't get me started on how many complaints I've heard about Halloween falling on a Monday this year. You can't really "let loose" when you have to be at work bright and early the next morning.
lostrune2
Needs moar scary!!!
Heheh, every Halloween season, a friend decks his whole house with scary props, specialFX, and everything including smoke and wireless mic/speakers for his booming voice when in costume. His young daughter gets a kick out of it every year.
Happy Halloween!
nelgraine
I have uploaded some photos of the events in http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelgraine/sets/72157627902909507/show/ Enjoy.
Happy Halloween!
nelgraine
Kawasaki Halloween 2011 Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelgraine/sets/72157627902909507/show/