Tokyo Halloween and other haunted ideas?
 

I will be in Japan over the Halloween holiday (Oct 31st). I know Halloween is not *huge* in Japan, but I am wondering if there is any cool things to do (aside from just normal club parties and such).

Also, are there any types of haunted tours or legendary type stuff to see in Tokyo? Halloween or not?

Thanks!

I recently saw an episode of Tokyo Eye from NHK that featured haunted houses. There are some elaborate ones out there. One was a hospital-type west of Shinjuku, but they didn't give exact directions. I've also seen some clips of people dressed up in costumes and they even have a parade, mostly for children, in Omotesando....

I know they used to do a loop-line costume ride where a massive group of people rides around on the Yamanote-sen all dressed up. They did it in Osaka, too... but I have heard they have been cracking down in recent years.

While I was in Tokyo Disney land last week they had the whole thing decorated spooky Halloween style. I don't know if that's your thing or not but that's all I can come up with. We got our tickets from this red ATM looking thing in a 7/11 and it was only about 10,100 yen for 2 tickets, if I remember correctly.
I'm sure they'll have even more stuff on Halloween day, though. Maybe some parades or something.

Ah, cool. I will have to look into that! Sounds like the Silent Hill haunted house I have seen pop up online from time to time (which I definitely would not be against visiting).



You're not talking about the infamous naked gaijin halloween attack are you?



I appreciate any and all pointers, thanks! I am sure I won't have trouble finding a lot of these things just randomly wandering around...

I guess I am looking for either a *must see* type of event (parade or otherwise)... But more-so I am trying to hunt down mythical/legend-type places that are supposedly haunted. Shrines, forests, buildings, etc. Even a tour, maybe.

Anyway, thanks for the help so far guys :)

The haunted house at Fuji-Q Highland in Yamanashi Prefecture is supposed to be one of the biggest in the world. According to the website (English version available), it takes a whopping 50 minutes to go through.

I went to Tokyo Disneyland last year on Halloween day, and it was pretty fun - though so crowded that I only got to do a handful of attractions. Lots of Japanese people were dressed up in costumes, especially in themed groups. I remember one group that was all dressed up in some expensive-looking Alice in Wonderland playing card soldier costumes, and another group of about 15 people dressed as dalmatians (for 101 Dalmatians, of course).

Oh, just as a note of interest or whatever, haunted house attractions (not the real thing, of course) are seen as a summertime thing in Japan and as such, many temporary ones (like the popular one they have at Tokyo Dome City every year, though it looks like they may not be doing one this year) close by the end of September, unfortunately. So, if you get any other haunted house tips (attractions, not the real thing), be sure to double check and make sure they'll still be open when you come. That one at Fuji-Q that I mentioned is open year-round, as is, of course, the one at Disneyland.

I am not familiar with that.

The Yamanote Halloween Train vs. Japanese Netizen Rage | Japan Probe

Just read about it myself recently.

I guess this is a good example of how the Internet can take a fun tradition and blow it up into a sarin attack. The tradition of the loop line train parties on Halloween goes back pre-internet.

There were a lot of huge problems in more recent years with the loop line thing. Way too many people showed up, and they were blocking commuters from getting on the train... Unless they were cute girls. Someone we know was literally pushed from the train.
It really got ridiculous, from what I understand. It is one thing to have a small and fun tradition, but it is another to start kicking normal people off the train, stripping down, breaking things, and just generally creating havoc. It had reached the total havoc point with those riding having an attitude of "you can't touch me, screw anyone not participating"...

The backlash came after a couple years of serious problems caused by the riders. If the ride has disappeared, good riddance in my opinion. There is no need to make reasons for discrimination. *sigh*

ETA;
Back on the original topic...
I will second what Cola said. Most haunted houses and "scary" type attractions disappear with the end of the hot weather. It is seen as a way to have a chill in the hottest months of the year, and is also linked to Obon (festival of the dead) which is in mid-summer. Autumn is not the time for ghosts in Japan.

A ton of things to do
 

Halloween is a big weekend for me every year. On the Saturday closest to Halloween (29th this year), Roppongi is rich with costumed bar-hoppers after 10pm. Many of the foreigners wear thoughtfully crafted costumes whereas Japanese drinkers, who have realized that most people are in costumes, crowd the Don Quixote store buying the last of the novelty costumes. Many bars offer a gift or free drink to those who wear elaborate costumes.
On the Sunday closest to Halloween (30th this year), Kawasaki has a huge Halloween parade. It is bigger than events I've seen in the states and the attendees are very serious about their costumes. The homepage is here: ラ チッタデッラ【川崎】～KAWASAKI Halloween 2011
If you want to be in the parade or enter the contest, you have to register on the website. Register early as they reach capacity quite early in October. Here is a video that I recorded at last year's parade (I am the guy in Iron Maiden's Eddie costume at the beginning and throughout the video): Japanese Halloween Parade - YouTube
Metropolis has a Halloween Glitterball on a weekday before Halloween weekend (This year on Thursday 27th), but who can really get out on a weekday? Somehow it's still a very crowded event. This is the online ticket sales: Metropolis Glitterball 2011 - The Monster Bash
Finally, there is a regular ghost tour in Tokyo. They usually do a cemetery walk on the Saturday night closest to Halloween. It is a good tour, but it is full of creepy facts or murderous stories rather than walking into a possibly haunted house. In other words, it's more of an interesting dark history tour. It has great reviews. Haunted Tokyo Tours
The attached photo was taken at an early evening hour in Roppongi. It gives you an idea of the crowd. I am Michael in this photo.