So Halloween is now upon us (or over depending on your time zone), and I am up with this post late as usual. I’ve had a bad day and decided to let off some steam by blogging about today’s holiday.
Halloween has its root in the Celtic culture of Old England, where the Celts would celebrate the end of the “lighter half” of the year (summer) and welcome the “darker half” (winter) on October 31 in a festival called Samhain. They believed that the border between the living and dead world became thin at this time, so family ancestors could return home for a visit. However, this also allowed evil spirits to return as well. People would wear costumes to ward away the evil, while at the same time celebrate the return of ancestors. [Source: Wikipedia]
This is probably not one of the spirits to scare away.
Somewhere along the way, Trick-or-Treating became part of this tradition. For those that don’t know, the basic premise is that children (dressed up in various costumes) go around to other people’s houses (usually accompanied by parents) and get candy. They knock on the door of a home, say “Trick of Treat” and get some candy put into their candy bin / bag / carrier.
To make this post a bit more relevant to my blog, I will note that Japan does indeed “commemorate” Halloween, but only within the realms of Western culture. Decorations and costumes appear at theme parks or other places aimed at foreigners. Sometimes the filtered view I get of Japan regarding cons and maid-cafes leaves me thinking it may as well be Halloween in Japan more often than it is in America. Anyways, besides that, the day is largely ignored. There is no trick-or-treating.
A Halloween Parade in Japan (I guess it isn't ignored.). Click image for the source.
Now on a more personal note, I know as a kid all I was thinking about was candy, but now that I’m older (and less trusting), I can’t imagine why I would trick-or-treat. I mean you are asking strangers to give you sweet treats. How do you know the candy’s good in the first place? Maybe someone just wants to get rid of treats they’ve just discovered, but were hidden for a few years? I must be a terrible cynic, or I guess it’s in human nature to trust, especially on holidays. I do remember sorting out all the candy I got into edible and non-edible categories though. Sometimes you can tell what not to eat (by physical appearance) and what is expired based on the label.
Anyways, I still have a few friends in college who go out to Trick-or-Treat, and I don’t really understand why. I’m going to believe that it’s the experiencing of nostalgia and reliving childhood memories because it certainly isn’t about candy, as evidenced by the graph below:
I realized (through personal experience) that the older you get (or the older you are perceived to be), the less candy you will get.
At the same time, if you going to Trick-or-Treat, try to hit the neighborhoods with lots of big houses, even if it’s a bit out of your way. The bigger the house usually means the more the wealth (or willingness to spend) and that usually means more candy. Note the scientific graph below:
Especially in the recession, you aren’t going to get much candy going to apartments. The candy quality probably won’t be that great either. A neighborhood of mansions would net me chocolate bars, while an apartment complex resulted in a bunch of single Starbursts.
So while I cherished Halloween as a reminder of more innocent times, I don’t feel disappointed about skipping out on it now to study for exams. It something I have no need to go back to. However, I will say that Halloween parties are a big thing, and should be on the top of Halloween to do list. I mean for an anime fan it may not be that rare to “transform” into someone else, but it only comes once a year for everyone else.
Nice charts. :)
I visited one school a few days after Halloween, so I told them about Dia de los Muertos instead. But to translate “Muertos,” I used the kanji for “death” and “person,” so I’m afraid I might have freaked them out unnecessarily.
Paint can do wonders sometimes.
I don’t know, as you’ve mentioned in your blog before, the Japanese have their own kind of horror that is probably a degree beyond what we typically see (kids are probably not exposed to it though). Also, the impression I get is that ghosts and spirits have a more accepted and less “scary” role in Japan versus America.
I remember learning about Dia de los Muertos, I find it actually a bit more creepy (but still in good fun) than the light, fluffy costume tradition in the U.S.
Thanks for reading.