Today is Halloween!

October 31, 2023

Today is Halloween! The town I live in is very quiet. I wonder if Sannomiya, Umeda, and Shibuya are bustling? When I looked it up, I found out that Halloween originally was a harvest festival, and if you trace it back further, it seems to be connected to Celtic culture. I used to vaguely think of Celtic culture as something like Europe's Jomon culture or Yayoi culture, but I might be mistaken.

When I hear stories from people who grew up in America, Halloween seems like a holiday filled with lots of fun childhood memories. In Japan, during the autumn harvest festival, we carry mikoshi (portable shrines), and during spring cherry blossom viewing, we dress up and get drunk under the cherry blossoms while performing short plays. November 1st is when the saints descend, but on the night before that, spirits and evil beings roam the villages and towns, so we dress up to protect ourselves.

I have no personal experience with Halloween, so I can't quite imagine it, but it seems that a key aspect of this festival is to "dress up and become someone different."

If I were to dress up and go to a party now... I've been thinking about it since morning, but since I love music, I think I'd like to be a "street musician, Ching-dong" or a "candy vendor."

Kids and young people, have fun!! Don't forget about the saints!