How is Halloween celebrated in Japan?

[Kirby Phelps (PK)]

At least as far as Trick or Treating goes.

[ArmandV]

Couldn't tell you about trick or treating (I doubt that part ever caught on), but I did notice 2 years ago that shops carry Halloween decorations and stuff like the ones in the U.S. I was surprised to see it.

[Shibuyaexpat]

This reminds me of my friend's experience her first time in the U.S. during college years. She had always wanted to go to an American Halloween party and upon starting her freshman year, she asked her roommate if she knew of a good Halloween party. Keep in mind that while she studied English in Japan for many years, her pronunciation (by her own admission) was very rough. Upon hearing the request, her roommate looked perturbed and was evasive about the subject. With each repeated request, the roommate grew more and more agitated. Finally, she broke down and stated:
"Listen, H. I don't know what it's like in Japan, but in the U.S. we don't openly advertise Heroin parties!"
:)

[epigene]

Halloween is a recent import to Japan. Generally speaking, there is no trick-or-treating, but there are Halloween parties organized by children's organizations and English conversation schools. Retail stores also decorate their windows and interiors with Halloween stuff. Some organize Halloween events and parades, the most famous (and earliest starter) being Kiddyland in Omotesando, Tokyo.

HTH! :wave:

[nice gaijin]

Hahaha, good one.

From my experiences, there aren't many Japanese that celebrate Halloween in any noticeable way, except for a few parties and decorations here and there.

Other than the insane Yamanote Train Party (which I've once witnessed firsthand), I daresay the holiday slips by unnoticed by most.

[Glenski]

Some rare trick or treating, mostly by foreigners to foreigners. No supplies of Halloween candy sold.
Costumes in some stores, mostly for isolated parties.
That's it.

[Murs]

Halloween in Asian sounds pretty odd.

[Mars Man]

Yes...the above responsed do the trick...hee, hee, hee...

Here in Matsumoto, we had our first annual 'Matsumoto Holloween Feastival' sponsered by Mazda, Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce, ANPIE, and a few other organizations. The initiator of the action was an Eikaiwa school's owner who had been basically doing it for a couple of years, but then had worked extra hard to make it go big. He did a good job !!

At our uni yesterday, from around 5:30 pm, we had a bunch of small sized witches, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and so for and so on running across campus to the upstairs cafeteria where the school held a party for them...with some events.

One of my friends who runs a number of ECC classes from her home, every year gets together with a friend of hers who also runs one, and they have a big Halloween party with events and English practicing games. I've helped out a number of times but have been two busy these last two years.

I will never forget being made into a mummy with toilet paper...then bursting forth to chase the little laughing screaming kids around. (they're the ones who did the wrapping anyway...) AND that's about it for Halloween in Nihon !!

[orochi]

I wonder if trick-or-treating would ever catch on in Japan. I can't imagine Japanese people having any interest whatsoever.

[BigBossIchi]

Is there not an tradition that is similar to Hallowe'en in Japan? I thought I heard of something were some celebrate something to do with Yokai etc?

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Is there not an tradition that is similar to Hallowe'en in Japan? I thought I heard of something were some celebrate something to do with Yokai etc?


In Japan, there is 753.:wave::wave:
On November 15, it is a festival of a child.

[maushan3]

Is there not an tradition that is similar to Hallowe'en in Japan? I thought I heard of something were some celebrate something to do with Yokai etc?

I asked my host family about Halloween in Japan and said that it is not celebrated. hell, probably only nightclubs and conversation schools in major cities, but other than that, nothing more. We did trick-or-treating in English class at school, though.

Mom told me that kids get their annual share of candy at festivals, or Matsuri, no halloween needed.

and no, I don't think it will ever catch on in Japan. It hasn't caught up for some 25 or 30 years that Japan has been Americanized, why would it later?

Mauricio

[MadamePapillon]

I find it strange that they would take our holidays and celebrate them with little or no knowlege about where they came from and what they really mean. Even though many modern people are forgetting the roots of our holidays it just seems a little wierd that Japan would just go ahead and adopt them without the full back story.

Like us taking on a holiday and finding out it was originally a fertility ritual or something. Really strange. Or maybe I'm just over thinking this. :p

[diceke]

This is how it's celebrated in Japan.:smug:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=yamanote+halloween&search=Search

[Glenski]

Depending on who you believe about the origins of Halloween, one thought is that it is a carryover of Samhain, a Celtic celebration of the harvest and coming new year.

"Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future."

"To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter."

"By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. "
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=713&display_order=1&mini_id=1076

"Samhuinn, from 31 October to 2 November was a time of no-time. Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and organised, everyone knew their place. But to allow that order to be psychologically comfortable, the Celts knew that there had to be a time when order and structure were abolished, when chaos could reign. And Samhuinn, was such a time. Time was abolished for the three days of this festival and people did crazy things, men dressed as women and women as men. [This happened at Beltane too — IB] Farmers’ gates were unhinged and left in ditches, peoples’ horses were moved to different fields, and children would knock on neighbours’ doors for food and treats in a way that we still find today, in a watered-down way, in the custom of trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en."

"The dead are honoured and feasted, not as the dead, but as the living spirits of loved ones and of guardians who hold the root-wisdom of the tribe." http://www.neopagan.net/Halloween-Origins.html

So, in essence, especially based on the use of fire and in line with the last sentence above, the Obon festival comes closest to this celebration. Some people actually light candles outside their homes to guide spirits of their ancestors "home" for the night, after which they return to the grave (or whatever equivalent to heaven they may believe in). Sorry, no costumes, though.

[ArmandV]

I find it strange that they would take our holidays and celebrate them with little or no knowlege about where they came from and what they really mean. :p

Japan is well-known for adopting things from elsewhere. Since this is a global economy and media-driven, they most likely thought that the celebration of Halloween looked like fun and some started celebrating it themselves and it grew from there.

[MadamePapillon]

It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday

Lol, they did the same thing with Christmas, though I'm not as familiar with Christmas origins you can see Pagan influence in it to. Christmas trees, wreaths, mistletoe ect, but the church 'modified' it and turned it into Jesus's birthday.
Funny thing, I heard that the red sack that Santa uses to give presents to children, originally it was used to carry the dead bodies of children and that's the reason the sack is red, because of their blood. :relief:

Anyways, way off topic. My point is, no matter how 'cool' it may seem or how commercialized the holidays become it's still...almost disrespectful for them to take it on as a fad. There comes a point where the 'borrowing' becomes just plain rude.

[maushan3]

I find it strange that they would take our holidays and celebrate them with little or no knowlege about where they came from and what they really mean.

Wow, does this just apply for Japan? I didn't know. We all know that even in America and most Christian-Catholic countries Christmas is celebrated as commercial holiday. Just go look out for the nearest Mall, Wal-Mart, whatever. You find all this 'buy now, great price' kind of thing everywhere in the world. So, really, I find it not amazing that a first-world country as Japan 'celebrates' holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, even Easter (I don't know, I haven't stayed here that long). It is not surprising for me, I find it very normal for holidays to be used as commerciality.

Mauricio

[ArmandV]

Don't forget Mother's Day. Japan has that, too.

[MadamePapillon]

Wow, does this just apply for Japan? I didn't know. We all know that even in America and most Christian-Catholic countries Christmas is celebrated as commercial holiday. Just go look out for the nearest Mall, Wal-Mart, whatever. You find all this 'buy now, great price' kind of thing everywhere in the world. So, really, I find it not amazing that a first-world country as Japan 'celebrates' holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, even Easter (I don't know, I haven't stayed here that long). It is not surprising for me, I find it very normal for holidays to be used as commerciality.
Mauricio

Even in our own countries there is anger about the holidays being turned into nothing more than a consumerists theme park. I've met tons of people that are disgusted by this because, believe it or not, these holidays actually used to mean something other than filling the wallets of big corporations.

I guess the problem I have is our culture being turned into a free-for-all, anyone can cash in. It just really surprised me that our holidays and traditions have become so degraded that another country and culture would take them on as nothing more than a cheap excuse to party and make money.

To me that shows a more than extreme lack of respect and courtesy towards us and is one of the few things that makes me truly angry. Despite popular opinion I don't think our traditions should be something that can be tossed away so easily or have a price tag slapped on them or be disrespected by another culture so casually. Let's have a little dignity, please.

[diceke]

To me that shows a more than extreme lack of respect and courtesy towards us and is one of the few things that makes me truly angry. Despite popular opinion I don't think our traditions should be something that can be tossed away so easily or have a price tag slapped on them or be disrespected by another culture so casually. Let's have a little dignity, please.
zzzz:sleep:

Talk about respect...

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3014
http://www.japanprobe.com/wp-content/uploads/foreigners-hadaka.jpg

Who are you to tell anyone Japan is stealing YOUR Halloween, when a bunch of obnoxious westerners in Japan excuse their own act of public disturbance because "we are just having fun (in our own view!)" and "Japanese would enjoy this too!?" Is this what some idiots call multi-culturalism!? and cultural diversity?

In fact, Halloween is a foreign festival to most Japanese, and the silent majority have a strict "shrug off and keep walking" policy on this kind of foreign idiocy!!:smug:

[White-Hexe]

I read something about this.... ah found it!
In Roppongi there is many things going on....
Come join the fun dressed up in your Halloween costume at the Roppongi Hills Arena!!
The annual Halloween Parade will again be held this year!
So come join us at the parade dressed up as your favorite pumpkin, witch or pirate!
And when you participate in your costume, you receive a souvenir badge and sweets!
Dates & time : Saturday, October 27 / 11:00 - 13:30
Come participate at any time until 13:30.
Each parade is limited to about 200 participants.
Several parades will be held during the time allowed, and each parade lasts for 25 minutes.
The staring time of the parades may change depending on the number of participants.
(N.B. There may be a large crowd in the morning.)
Venue : Roppongi Hills Arena
Eligibility : Any child or adult dressed up in a Halloween costume.
All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian (the accompanying adult need not be in a costume).
Reservations : Saturday, October 27
10 :30 – 13 :00 at the Roppongi Hills Arena
Participants who have signed up between 10:30 – 13:00 are eligible to participate.
and also...
On the day of the parade, we welcome all children to come to our costume-making class! You can choose from a variety of your favorite witch costumes, pumpkin costumes, and more!
Date & time : Saturday, October 27 / 10:00 ~ (Limited to 100 participants)
Venue : Roppongi Hills Arena
Collaborated by : Kids’ Square (6th Floor, West Walk)
Limit : 100 participants on a first-come-first-served basis
Fee : 300 yen (To cover material cost)
Eligibility : Children around ages 2-7.
So I guess there are some things that happen, like Others have said here. Both those are taken from roppongihills.com

[MadamePapillon]

Who are you to tell anyone Japan is stealing YOUR Halloween, when a bunch of obnoxious westerners in Japan excuse their own act of public disturbance because "we are just having fun (in our own view!)" and "Japanese would enjoy this too!?" Is this what some idiots call multi-culturalism!? and cultural diversity?

In fact, Halloween is a foreign festival to most Japanese, and the silent majority have a strict "shrug off and keep walking" policy on this kind of foreign idiocy!!

Ok, so a bunch of 'foreigners' and japanese people get together for a Halloween party, people get drunk and generally make asses of themselves and damage public property. This happens anywhere, with anybody, and in any culture, no matter what. You get crowds, alcohol and a party together and nothing good is going to come of it. But, horror of horrors, foreigners were involved and suddenly a few drunken idiots is turned into a race riot.


However, sometime yesterday morning, the Japanese megaforum 2ch.net discovered that post about the event and translated the information about it into Japanese, igniting a raging storm of anti-foreign hatred and sending over 10,000 visitors to this site.

Numerous threads over at 2channel and some Japanese blogs began to fill up with anonymous comments calling for outraged Japanese to contact the police and demand that they round up and arrest all the foreigners that joined in on the party [words like “rioters” and “terrorists” were used to refer to the foreigners]. Others boldly proclaimed that they would show up at Shinjuku station with knives and stab foreigners to death, and one even posted a comment on Japan Probe claiming that he would “blast” trains on the Yamanote Line.

Somehow I don't think disabling some lights and getting naked in public deserves that kind of response.
It's that sort of thing I find disrespectful. The willingness to import a foreign holiday simply because it's cool to be associated with the west at the moment but intolerence of the foreigners themselves. Why take our holidays, traditions and customs if all it is to you is a silly fad and you don't want to actually deal with the people that holiday is associated with?
Japan should have been prepared, you start importing our holidays you better be ready to say hello the people as well, idiots and all.

[diceke]

Hahaha, not again, blame the Japanese! blame the Japanese!! Typically western mindset!:blush:

[MadamePapillon]

Hahaha, not again, blame the Japanese! blame the Japanese!! Typically western mindset!:blush:

What can I say. It is our holiday, and I don't see how a bunch of drunken party-goers deserves death threats simply for celebrating our holiday in our way. A night in jail, sure, but death threats is a bit much.

I can guarantee, whether they were in Japan or in their own country those kids were going to act crazy and get into trouble. All I'm saying is, adopting our holiday is as good as an open invitation for us to come on over. If Japan doesn't want us and our 'crazy' ways near them, they shouldn't be celebrating our holidays.

[tokapi]

[ There were perhaps 200 to 250 foreigners present, most of them Caucasian. There was also a number of Japanese participants, most of them Japanese women. ]


Not a bit surprise, Japanese women are outgoing & prefer having some fun times with more expressive effectionate entertaining Gaijin men:blush::-)

[Dutch Baka]

If Japan doesn't want us and our 'crazy' ways near them, they shouldn't be celebrating our holidays.

What's wrong with using other countries custom and make it in some way your own custom. It goes a bit far to say they shouldn't celebrate your holidays because they disagree/dislike they way some celebrate them.

Not a bit surprise, Japanese women are outgoing & prefer having some fun times with more expressive effectionate entertaining Gaijin men

Don't be that harsh for the Japanese man, whom are trying to study and get a good job so that they can suport their family in the future. And just do not always have that much time as the average Japanese women has.

[diceke]

It's so naive to assume that one specific element of culture is owned by someone, when itself is a product of cultural blending and diffusion. (Foreign traditions have been incorporated into Halloween.) No one culture is self-sufficient on its own.

What you see on the Yamanote train is just a bunch westerners allowing themselves leeway (and some Japanese taking advantage of this occasion.)

Please, please, please learn the word responsibility. No one wants to import rowdy idiots from another country. (And Halloween is NOT a Japanese holiday, the accusation of theft unfounded, check out the calendar!)

[pipokun]

Sorry for my ignorance, but tell me how many ancient Gaelic or Celtic people live in Canada now.
A funny story about Christmas here was that a missionary introduced the story using a Japanese-like name, Santa Kuro, in a Sunday school in the Meiji era. I don't know where he/she came from, but he/she must be the cause of evil. So please blame the Christian missionary first, then blame us.

[diceke]

So please blame the Christian missionary first, then blame us.

Right on! :D:hihi::note:

Blame the Japanese

By George Dawson, New York Times, 1/29/92

When the 'phone is out of order, and the roof has sprung a leak,
When the money in your paycheck barely gets you through the week,
When the baby has the colic, and your dog is full of fleas,
Don't complain to Washington--just blame the Japanese.

When the crooks are running rampant, and the judges are too lax,
When letters from the IRS demand some extra tax,
When your son is quitting college, and your daughter's getting D's,
Just do what Iacocca does--and curse the Japanese.

When your taxes keep on rising, while your bank-book starts to shrink,
When pollution clouds your city, so the air begins to stink,
When the temperature is falling, and your pipes are sure to freeze,
Call upon your Congressman to bash the Japanese.

When everyone around you is complaining of the news,
And some condemn the Arabs while others blast the Jews,
Stiffen up your lip, my son, and never bend your knees--
Just be a true American, and blame the Japanese.



George Dawson is emeritus professor of economics at Empire State, College of the State University of New York

[Murs]

There were a good amount of Japanese people with them from the guys response, so it isn't all there fault.

diceke;
I agree that some cultures are a mix of others etc, but I'm not sure Halloween has anything to do with Japan or the far-east. Though thats not really my point.

I think that when we borrow something from them, like anime, technology etc I dont whine about the sub titles or the device being an unusually size or whatever. If your going to adopt something then prepare to have the whole package. I think I haven't articulated myself properly here btu i hope people understand :).

[MadamePapillon]

Sorry for my ignorance, but tell me how many ancient Gaelic or Celtic people live in Canada now.

Halloween is celebrated all over the western world, from Russia to Germany to Canada. We have been intertwining with each other for thousands of years, even our languages, while different still share a common root. The fact is that western society, for all of it's differences, is basically one. We have such a long history of taking and borrowing from each other to the point where it is ridiculous to say what you just said.

Japan on the other hand is an island that had been closed to the world for many years. It's about as far away from the west (culturally) as anything and has had very little to do with us until recently. Yet they import our holidays, not even bothering to learn the history or the beahviors associated with it and then get shocked when westerners come over and go wild on a holiday that is famous for being a trouble magnet.

Trust me, worse things happen over here during that holiday, but if Japan had cared enought to do the homework they would have known that. Causing a public disturbance is far less worse than vandalizing graveyards, devil worshipping, getting fingers blown off by firecrackers and putting razorblades in apples.

[MadamePapillon]

What's wrong with using other countries custom and make it in some way your own custom. It goes a bit far to say they shouldn't celebrate your holidays because they disagree/dislike they way some celebrate them.

It's not that it's another country that took our holiday, it's that they didn't bother to learn anything about it. That and the fact that there is a definite anti-foreign seniment among quite a large number of the population. So they're willing to take our holidays but not so willing to take the people.

It'd be like us saying... Hey, kanji looks cool, we're going to incorparate it into our alphabet and use it to pronounce english words. But don't bother coming over, we only want your kanji, not you. Oh, and by the way, you can't vote, nope, not even if you live here. We only want 'real' Canadians voting.

[diceke]

Sorry for my ignorance, but tell me how many ancient Gaelic or Celtic people live in Canada now.

Christmas is celebrated all over the western world, from Russia to Germany to Canada.
I'm sure the question was about Halloween, and not Christmas. Someone forgot to do her history homework, then. She doesn't know anything about HER holiday, you know how ridiculous the accusation is? :clueless:

[MadamePapillon]

My bad...I was talking about Christmas with my sister when I wrote that. :relief: I have Christmas on the brain, it's getting close to the holiday season. :p

[diceke]

Halloween is celebrated all over the western world, from Russia to Germany to Canada. We have been intertwining with each other for thousands of years, even our languages, while different still share a common root. The fact is that western society, for all of it's differences, is basically one. We have such a long history of taking and borrowing from each other to the point where it is ridiculous to say what you just said.
Someone forgot to do her history homework again! In Germany, Halloween has become popular in recent years due to the influence of American pop culture. It has nothing to do with thousands of history!
Japan on the other hand is an island that had been closed to the world for many years. It's about as far away from the west (culturally) as anything and has had very little to do with us until recently. Yet they import our holidays, not even bothering to learn the history or the beahviors associated with it and then get shocked when westerners come over and go wild on a holiday that is famous for being a trouble magnet.

I don't see any difference between Germany and Japan in the way both countries are under the influence of globalization in this 21st century.

But, how many times do I (and others) have to say this? The majority do not celebrate Halloween in Japan.

From my experiences, there aren't many Japanese that celebrate Halloween in any noticeable way, except for a few parties and decorations here and there.
Other than the insane Yamanote Train Party (which I've once witnessed firsthand), I daresay the holiday slips by unnoticed by most.

Perhaps, most people are not against innocent fun, but having fun at the expense of others is a big no-no in Japan, foreigner or Japanese! Partying, shouting, chanting, vandalizing property, harassing on a train are not acceptable behaviors by any standard, legally and morally! I heard that the US embassy also discourages this rude Halloween party. Stop playing the gaijin/racism card!

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6071/2006jrwarningpaperwe4.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2006jrwarningpaperwe4.jpg)

[MadamePapillon]

Someone forgot to do her history homework again! In Germany, Halloween has become popular in recent years due to the influence of American pop culture. It has nothing to do with thousands of history!
Wow. Yet again with that 'the west doesn't have a culture' attitude. Halloween is an old time celebration of the dead, known also as All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day and it HAS been around for thousands of years all over the west. It is commonly known as the time of the year when the barrier between the world of the living and the dead is thinnest. American pop culture has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Here, educate yourself. A little history on Halloween in Germany.
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/allsaint.htm
And this is why I have a problem with Japan taking on our holidays. Pure, unashamed ignorance and the idea that the west is somehow just a pseudo-culture in comparision with the east. It's all fine to take our holidays and not bother to learn anything about them because they aren't real holidays.
I wonder if it was the reverse and we were taking eastern holidays as an excuse to party and get drunk with no prior knowledge about them...what would you have to say about that?
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST12652320071029?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Japan also has a celebration for the dead, known as Obon, but many Japanese don't seem to realize that Halloween has a similar meaning. They prefer to focus on the party.
"Japanese people like festivals very much, you see. We even celebrate Christmas, but we don't celebrate Christ, we just enjoy," says Yoshiaki Ei, an affable entrepreneur wearing jeans and a blue long-sleeve T-shirt.

[diceke]

All Saints Day traditionally has nothing to do with Halloween in Europe (excluding Britain & Ireland, of course). Halloween is understood in the American cultural context today. (At least, read what you insert in your post as a reference.)

Damn these Europeans, they are capitalizing on the Canadian holiday!:wave:
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6240/halloween3qf6.png
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6572/halloweenme9.png
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=35070940

[Murs]

All Saints Day does have something to do with halloween if i remember correctly one is like a preparation for the other, not sure.

Also I think the east asain attitude needs some questionning here. I think they like to believe that nothing apart from "partying" comes from the west and no culture in order to validate their preceived cultural supremacy. So its no wonder that they don't understand our holidays. Generalising, but this is what I've experience from people of this region.

[diceke]

I don't understand your complaint, but maybe the first step to take is to stop teaching Halloween in English classes (and schools) in Japan and the rest of the world. Then, it will "go like the hula hoop" in France! Looks like some English teachers here are responsible for corrupting the Japanese! :blush:

[MadamePapillon]

What's not to understand? Even after all the evidence to the contrary you seem intent on trying to convince us that, no, Halloween (or All Hallows Eve) isn't an old western tradition, it was manufactured in America to make money. You compare an ancient holiday to the HULA HOOP, which makes me think that you don't actually understand and still, after all this, see it as a disposable party fad.

I think it's that very attitude Murs was trying to get across to you. The perception in the east that they are culturally and traditionally superior to us in every way. You seem utterly set on denying that we have any history or tradition beyond American pop culture. Ever heard of the Druids, how about the ancient Romans or Greeks, or the Vikings? Were they bedtime stories made up by an american company to make money as well?

[diceke]

You are cherry picking your "evidence" and accusing me of things I didn't even say, I guess it's out of control now. :clueless::sick:

[pipokun]

A 29 year old evangelist was arrested for Enjokosai with a 14 year old girl.
Mayuzumi has become acquainted with the girl through an online dating site.
29歳伝道師が中２女子とみだらな行為
　神奈川県警青葉署は２１日、横浜市内の中学２年の女 子生徒（１４）とみだらな行為をしたとして、児童福祉 法違反（淫行）の疑いで日本キリスト教団愛知教会の伝 道師黛八郎容疑者（２９）を逮捕した。
http://www.nikkansports.com/general/f-gn-tp0-20071121-285928.html

To be fair, there are also corrupted Buddhism monks.
Akita local police arrested a 31 year old zen monk for Enjokosai with a 17 year old girl.
秋田臨港署は２４日、秋田県青少年健全育成条例違反の 疑いで、同県大館市の僧侶佐藤恒英容疑者（３１）を逮 捕した。佐藤容疑者は容疑を否認しているという。調べ では、佐藤容疑者は７日、秋田市のホテルで、出会い系 サイトで知り合った同市に住む専門学校の女子生徒（１ ７）が１８歳未満と知りながらわいせつな行為をした疑 い


The persons are responsible for what they did, not temple or church is responsible for them.
But if you claim something like "Halloween is OUR culture", please take responsibility for the crimes which the priest, monk, or believer commits. It is also YOURS.

[diceke]

Japan unashamedly took Christianity from St. Xavier in the 16th century!!!!:bikkuri:!

[Mars Man]

It may be best to pay careful attention to what's been said here on this thread regarding 'Holloween celebration in Japan.' The OP obviously asked the question in innocence and ignorance. The question has been answered.

Anything else here should be on topic, please. Holloween is not 'celebrated' in Japan, while festivities are making inroads into popular culture. That's it, pretty much.