Saturday, November 1--Halloween: What Went Wrong?

The Japanese have imported several American holidays, including Halloween, with enthusiasm. Well, they have at least imported the overall idea of the holiday, if not the horror. Decorations have been going up for weeks, consisting of happy little ghosts, smiling witches, dancing skeletons, and grinning spiders. I have not seen a single bloody corpse or snarling ghoul. More than anything, there is a sense of anticipation surrounding the possible loot of American candy.

I heard that on-base residents could expect thousands of trick-or-treaters, American and Japanese, to descend on the housing units, with most residents running out of candy within half an hour. I heard that even living off-base, we could expect several waves of trick-or-treaters. I also heard that the hundreds of cases of Halloween candy lining every available aisle of the commissary starting in August would be sold out within a couple weeks, so I bought three bags in early September. (I am happy to report that all three bags remained unopened until I poured them into the Halloween bowl Thursday.)

In anticipation of cute little Japanese trick-or-treaters, I turned on the gate and front porch lights last night at the first hint of dusk (about 4:30). I planned a low-maintenance dinner that would survive numerous interruptions by the doorbell. Jim resisted his usual routine of immediately showering and putting on pajamas when arriving home after work. For several hours we remained downstairs, listening to groups of kids moving up and down the street outside. Not a single ring of the doorbell, though, so we eventually headed upstairs to work in the office. No sooner had I logged into my email than the doorbell rang. Yay! I raced downstairs, eager to load down Japanese children with handfuls of American candy, and found Jim’s coworker Rudy at the door. Dressed in chains and a Hannibal Lechter mask, he gamely cried, “Trick or treat!” so I doled out handfuls of Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, Starburst, Skittles, and Twizzlers. He left happy with his loot, and I returned to the office. Seconds after sitting at my desk, the doorbell rang again, and I was convinced the Japanese had seen Rudy come to the door and now knew we were handing out candy. Nope. It was Rudy again, wanting to know if there were other American families in the neighborhood handing out candy.

After talking to people today who have been in Japan for previous Halloweens, I learned that to attract trick-or-treaters you have to first decorate the outside of your house as a sign that you have candy and are open to the idea of giving it away (porch lights are meaningless). You also have to stand outside with your bowl, and literally flag down passing children in order to give them the candy, until word gets around that you are participating in the festivities.

We will know better next year. In the meantime, Jim will go to work Monday with a huge bag of Halloween candy to put on his desk for his coworkers to grab. Not the chocolate, though—I am keeping the good stuff close to home.