Halloween-ish

On Sunday I went to a kids’ Halloween party. A friend of mine was holding it, it was a work event, I said I’d go and give a hand.
I’m pretty slack on Halloween really, I suppose it doesn’t mean much to me, we didn’t have it when we were kids as far as I remember, just a turnip lamp and days of turnip inspired meals to follow.
Japan has a habit of importing things and twisting them to suit it’s own ends. It’s end being a commercial enterprise of course, another way to get people to buy shite.

For a few years my own kids sort of got into it, and plans were made in the neighbourhood to collect goodies but that was about it.
It has been hard for my kids to understand that costumes do not have to be Halloween-themed, you don’t have to be a witch/ghost/vampire.
You can go with a creative/joke costume, or a popular character etc.
Anyway at the last minute Jim decided to accompany me to the party, so he threw on a black jacket and painted lipstick fangs and we were done and good to go.
At the party, there were about 50 kids.
And before I get started on my gripe, I should say, it was a very good party, it was Halloween themed, had a taste of what Halloween is about and all the kids had a good time, mission accomplished.

Looking around at the costumes it would appear, Halloween colours are black, orange and purple.
How purple got imported into the mix I do not know. There were a lot of witches, a couple of draculas, a ghost or two and strangely enough a kid with a water pistol? Your guess is as good as mine.
Need to use the term ‘costume’ fairly loosely here, because while some kids had seriously gone to town with the black plastic bags, or indeed bought a commercial outfit for the occasion, some kids had opted for a more minimalistic look, a jack o lantern hair bobble, a purple scarf ( again with the purple) or the apparently very popular orange T- shirt.
As I said, we didn’t do Halloween when I was a kid, ( so really who am I to have an opinion here) we had Bonfire Night and Mischief Night, which I suspect may now have been outlawed in the UK, on the grounds that every night is mischief night and nothing good can come of sanctioning it, but I do feel that whatever Halloween once was to little kids in the US, it’s pretty much over.
I think that when they were kids they probably went around neighbourhoods that they knew, knocking on the doors of their neighbours and getting their loot in the form of large quantities of sugar, but surely those days are gone, too many things to beware of these days.
So Japan, I think the party is over, and you were too late. A pumpkin coloured hair clip does not a costume make, neatly packed, identical baggettes of sweets is not really how it’s done, bow out now and stick to doing your own holidays and festivals.
Don’t even get me started on Japanese Xmas…..