Halloween Comes Early - Rokko Island Celebrations

Halloween is not a hugely popular holiday in Japan, but since it is a "Hallmark Holiday" that has a large commercial aspect to it, it is growing in popularity. Here on Rokko Island, in our ex-pat community, we do it up...

Halloween in Japan comes early. Well, not really. But, sort of. Because the kids are on Fall Break next week (and many gaijin travel), all of the local celebrations took place last week. There was trick or treating in the Entente (the apartment where the vast majority of foreigners live). There were also parties at school. Jacob was a vampire, and Lauren was a flower princess. No surprises there!

The Halloween season also gave Mike the opportunity to introduce Halloween Peeps to his co-workers. We know, Peeps are really an Easter-type tradition, but that is what came in the package from home (Thanks Mom!), and we didn't have candy corns. (Nor have we seen any here...hmmm.) At any rate, they were a bit hit, and it was hilarious to hear rapid-fire Japanese being spoken around the office with the word Peeps in it. (Kore wa peeps desu.)