History of Japanese Halloween: 1985 to 1995

In 1985, there was almost no Halloween
celebration in Japan, except at a few
English Language schools and maybe
some ultra-gaijin bars in Roppongi.

Then, in 1989 or so, a gaijin had an idea
to have a Halloween party on the Yamanote
train that circles Tokyo.  He told everyone
he knew to wear costumes, and meet at
Shinjuku at 9 pm on the platform that
goes toward Ikebukuro.  Seems that 15 or
so hardy souls showed up and they partied
and carried on inside the train as it took
one hour to loop from Shinjuku to Shinjuku.

Unfortunately, being a gaijin-non-grata
who hates hanging out in gaijin-kusai
Roppongi, I did not hear about that
party until it was too late.

But for the next three years, my video camera
and I were ready. And what a hoot it was.
Bout a half train car worth of us worthless
gaijin piled onto the train, and startled
the poor flabbergasted Japanese. We drank,
carried ghetto blasters on our shoulders,
danced, climbed up and laid
in the overhead storage racks,
and were just general idiots wearing
the best most ridiculous costumes.

The next year, a whole train carload of
us gathered including quite a few Japanese
recruits.  I think that was
the year Toe and Jam were with me, and
right as the train doors slid open,
we could see a mouth on the other side,
and in slow motion it seemed liked a
projectile vomit spewed from the mouth,
and we fell all over the place trying
to get out of its deadly path. Classic Tokyo!!

And every year afterward
more and more people gathered until I had
to quit going.  Heard that it got so crowded
that all the people could not even fit
on the platform. Freaks the JR rail company
out. The police come every year, but they
are hapless to stop this go-for-it crowd.
I think JR should take advantage of the
situation and make a special Halloween
train, charge people a 100 yen, pipe
music thru the train speakers, and do
some funky JR nasal type rap.

Now there is Halloween stuff for sale
in all the department stores and all
kinds of places have Halloween parties.
Last night as I was walking by
the girlie bars, which are on my way
home, all the hawkers were out front
in ridiculous costumes.

Seems like the women here use every
excuse to get as near naked as legally
possible, and all the Halloween costumes are
super sexy.  Saw it live with my own eyes, and on TV
the last few days.

It makes me happy how Japan takes Western
holidays and somehow turns them into something
completely different.

Christmas Eve is now a time to have a date,
usually a full course date that includes
expensive restaurant and all night porkfest in hotel.
You can just walk around Christmas Eve and know
all the hotels are full, and smell lovemaking
in the air.

Maybe other countries should take some
Japanese holidays and adapt them in
unusual ways.  How about the Emperor's
birthday: Green Day for previous emperor Hirohito,
or Dec. 23 for present emperor.

On that day, we could all wear clothes
like an emperor all day, but the rule
would be that right at dusk, everyone
has to get nekkid and go swimming.

Any other ideas.

Mr. Huggsie
Shogun of Fun and Party Word Made Flesh.

--
This is Michael McShane (nickname: Huggs) in Tokyo.  Thank you.
From Kentucky, Oregon, and New Mexico.
Often visits West Virgina and Hawaii.
mich...@tky.hp.com

: History of Japanese Halloween: 1985 to 1995
<deleted funny account of Halloween party on Tokyo subway>

Well, this doesn't really give any ideas for new holiday celebrations,
etc., but I would like to quickly describe what we called the "Penis
Festival" in Matsumoto.

In late August '90, I and two friends went on a short trip to Matsumoto
(in the Japan Alps) to witness what we were told was a "fun and
interesting" festival, for two gods, I think, whose names I don't remember.
We actually stayed in Utsukushi-gahara, right outside of Matsumoto.

We stayed in a very nice ryokan, and even got tanked up and wandered around
the small town in yukata and geta just so we'd fit in.  The festival was
on the second night of our stay.  During that day, we hiked up a very steep
set of steps to find a small temple.  It contained a gnarly (literally)
tree stump full of holes and a place for something else, which we couldn't
find.

That night, we, and everyone else in town, went out on the main street and
waited while drinking, eating and chatting.  Soon enough, a group of young
men appeared at one end of the street carrying the missing object from the
temple: a large wooden penis.  They visited every shop on the street, and
enthusiastically thrust the penis into and out of the shop entrance several
times while shouting "Oi-sa" or something like it.  They invited women to
sit on the penis while it was being thrust, and even got a pubescent Aussie
girl to ride.

Fun for all!  We figured out that the tree stump must represent "woman" and
the penis "man" (duh!).  Apparently, the festival would bring good fortune
and "fertility" to the businesses and lucky women who got to ride.  I've
still got a wooden "charm" with a penis burnt into it from the festival.
Anybody know the name of the festival and what it was _really_ all about?

Matt
--
mleon...@netcom.com               http://stripe.colorado.edu/~leonarm/home.html
I HAVE been assured by a very knowing American of my Acquaintance in London;
that a young healthy Child, well nursed, is, at a Year old, a most delicious,
nourishing, and wholesome Food...         <Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal>

1.  "Days 11 to 19 and 21 to 31 are expressed straightforwardly by a
       cardinal number + nichi.  Thus the 18th day of the month is
       juhachinichi."

2.  "KEYWORD  you [ju:] pron 1 (subj: sing) あなたは[が] anata wa[ga];
       (: pl) あなたたちは[が] anatatachi wa [ga]"

3.  "IN ANY CASE,WE DON'T ACCEPT TO EXCHANGE THE PRODUCTS THAT CUSTOMER
       ALREADY PURCHASED,EXCEPT FOR THE DEFECTIVE ITEMS.  KEEP THIS
       RECEIPT FOR RETURN."

How fortunate that the example in quotation 1 is correct, one of the
lucky 18 cases out of 20 possibilities.  Maybe the person using quotation
2 was fortunate enough to be a teacher addressing a class.

Sounds like quotation 3 says that I can return quotations 1 and 2.
Anyone agree?

Why oh why did I try buying another English-to-Japanese dictionary,
why did I think this one might be different?
--
 <<  If this were the company's opinion, I would not be allowed to post it.  >>
"I paid money for this car, I pay taxes for vehicle registration and a driver's
license, so I can drive in any lane I want, and no innocent victim gets to call
the cops just 'cause the lane's not goin' the same direction as me" - J Spammer

My rainichibi was Oct. 18th, and I came here four years ago. Three years
ago Hattori-kun was killed on the same day (his meinichi).

My friend also got married yesterday. It was a costume wedding where all
the guests have to wear a costume. I wish I could have gone!

Some of the men in my Tokyo office once observed that I was in and out of
the bathroom a lot quicker than the Japanese female staff.  "What are
they doing in there?" they asked me.  I told them that was easy, brushing
their teeth.  It never occurred to me to find out whether they were using
hard or soft bristles.

-- Jean Williams jqw3...@is2.nyu.edu

In message ID <I6vlwcM/6vnO08...@gol.com> on 11/1/95, Peter Mansour wrote:

I want to appologize for a bad choice of wording.  I did not mean to offend
anybody.  Actually, the term "African-American" would not be appropriate
because many JET's are not American.  What non-offensive term should I have
used?  If I offended anybody I am sincerely sorry, because that was NEVER my
intention.  Honestly, what non-offensive term should I have used.

Take care,
Michael

- sent via an evaluation copy of BulkRate (unregistered).

Let's see - what's the current PC term..."pigmentationally gifted"?  I guess
I'm not one to comment though, since I'm "melanin-deficient" :) )

Perhaps it's a good thing that American-style PC-ness haven't reached
Japan yet...although come to think of it, it may be extremely insensitive
to use terms such as "light-skinned" and "dark-skinned," let alone similes
using "Belgian endive" (an ethnist term?) or "cast bronze," to indicate
how sensitive a particular individual is to ultraviolet rays.

Er...what was the original discussion?  Ah, that's right...ageism.
Ageism?  In a Japan-related group?  The nerve!  ;-)

In article <47agmm$...@gol1.gol.com>, le...@gol1.gol.com (Peter Payne)
wrote:

That is a common misinterpretation of the word 'baka-chong'.
The word 'chong' has nothing to do with Koreans. It is said to originate
from an obsolate word, 'chongare-bouzu', a bum who sings 'chongare-bushi'
to get money.  Still, some people here think it shouldn't be used based
on
that misinterpretation.  A good example to show how silly it is to be PC.

---
  kyo akita

Interesting. But I asked a dozen people at work today about that and they all
hadn't heard that origin. Do you have a citation or reference regarding this
alternative interpretation?

MICHAEL __________________________________________
GNJ Spectrum Tokyo +81-3-5377-2401 mich...@gnj.or.jp
Featuring Internet, OneNet and Pride International Networks

Then I guess it will embarrass you at least a little to know that the "chon"
suffix is derived from "chon-gag" the knotted hair style that was normal on
the 6 million unmarried Korean men and boys who were drafted (forced labor)
by the Japanese colonial government. When the Koreans started cutting their
hair in a more western fashion, then the word took on the meaning of bachelor,
but the derivation of the word "bakachon"  is the discriminatory concept of
a stupid Korean man.

Charles

--
*************************************************************************** **
*  Charles Richmond     Integrated International Systems Corporation        *
*  c...@koibito.iisc.com  c...@world.std.com                                    *
*  Specializing in UNIX, X, Image Processing, and Communications.           *
*  One Longfellow Place Suite 3309 , Boston , Ma. USA 02114-2431            *
*  (617) 367 3151       FAX (617) 723 6861                                  *
*************************************************************************** **