Autumn in Japan. The days grow shorter, the air grows cooler and two of my favorite events occur: The changing of the leaves and Halloween celebrations —the best American cultural export ever, as far as I'm concerned.
Sure, the Japanese have incorporated a number of holidays from the West, all while creating their own traditions. For many people in Japan, Valentine's Day is actually two separate events and segregated by gender, while Christmas has become synonymous with cake, fried chicken and a table for two at a swank restaurant. Halloween, I believe, proves to be a better fit for Japan's cultural predilections just as it is. It has its roots in respecting — and even communing with — the dead, which lines up well with ancient O-bon traditions, and Japan has more than its share of homegrown ghost and monster stories to be told around a campfire. Halloween's present themes of costumes and fright also jibe with the Japan of today, where horror movies and cosplay still rake in billions of yen every year.
You'd think that Halloween events would blanket the archipelago by now, and some would argue that they have, but a large majority of these are aimed at an audience much older than the trick-or-treat age. Clubs and bars will have their parties (and well they should), but families need not despair, as there are a number of places in and around Tokyo to get into the Halloween spirit.