Tokyo Metropolis

Halloween is probably one of the greatest examples I can think of when I reflect on how Japan has changed over the last decade or so as well was the friction generated by those changes. You see, once upon a time in Tokyo, celebrating Halloween meant dressing up in a costume and riding the Yamanote Line around the center of town drinking heavily and being unruly. Other than that weirdness, you really couldn’t tell October 31st from November 3rd, or any other average day here in Japan. More recently though, times have changed as it seems like every shop in town adopts a Halloween motif, often as early as September, while every bar and nightclub holds a costume contest or ball over Halloween weekend. Then there’s all the street drinking in areas like Shinjuku and Shibuya, which we won’t really get into since the local government is trying pretty hard to stamp that out.  But for all the parties and decorations, isn’t Halloween supposed to be about kids and trick-or-treating?  Yes, of course, and to help you and your family celebrate the occasion we have prepared a shortlist of events you can bring the children to around Greater Tokyo without being worried they’ll see…