Jeff commits seppuku over Halloween embarassment

Halloween in Japan was, uh, different than we expected.

Last week was weird, because the kids had Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday off. Only in Japan. Anyway, after the first 2 days inside with the little monsters, I knew we had to get out of the house on Thursday, so we walked to Mitsuike Park. You know, that one with all the cool slides and a temple? Happily, map in hand, I got us there no problem. We saw some lovely trees on the way, and a five-legged spider:



















Also, this time, I remembered to bring a bunch of those bread crusts that I cut off of the kids' sandwiches everyday (don't laugh - I would never do this in the US; the bread here sucks and the crusts taste like paper bags). We were expecting to have the place pretty much to ourselves, because the day off was peculiar to their school, but it was swarming with groups of little kids in color-coded hats on field trips. Anyway, we fed the koi, which was much more entertaining than we had anticipated. Koi are seen by most westerners as ornamental and zen creatures, serenely and decoratively swimming in ponds. Well. These guys are huge and aggressive, swarming to the shores where the people are. When you throw in a bit of bread, a feeding frenzy ensues. They race for the bread, fighting each other and any nearby ducks for every morsel. Jeff thinks they're creepy.



















There are also cats all over the place. Pretty tame ones, too, that let you pet them. Last time, we had seen a woman feeding some in a gazebo, so this may have something to do with their tame natures.

Friday, we had our first (and maybe last) party. There was much food, like sukiyaki, chili, Thai ginger fish, grilled meat, candy, and various American snacks, courtesy of the Navy commissary. We had a pretty decent turnout, including some sleepover guests: a group from Kyoto (whose names mostly escape me, because by the time they showed up, I was already drunk and I was barely coherent in the morning before they left. I remember "Martin" and "Apache"). It was an international affair, Austria, the Czech Republic, the US being represented, though it was mostly a Japanese crowd.

Mercy and Erika, the first arrivals















Michael and Shingo















Jeff & Ichan (sp?) grilling















Martin and Anna, from Austria (NOT a couple)













Us















James, in from Seattle


















Macky, of course















Nori-chan playing a Japanese hand-game with D















Tomoi















Why parties in Japan leave cleaner floors















Martin, Yu, Jeff, Zukyan



















Toru















Zukyan














Jeff & I went to bed at 4am, but it apparently went on for awhile after that, because our neighbor came over at 5 to politely remind the guests on the balcony to keep it down.

I was a wreck the next day, probably thanks to the sake Shingo kept pouring me. Sadly, this made me unfit to attend Macky's Halloween Buzz party, but the kids and Jeff went.

Tomoi?


















Rick (I'm guessing) and Toru






































Sunday, we received a Halloween/kids' birthday care package from Aunt Karla, full of candy, Halloween & Day of the Dead decorations, Nickelodeon DVDs, and bottles of Tapatio hot sauce (thank you, Karla!).










































M made peanut butter and blood sandwiches with the 'edible fake blood' packets in the package.














Turns out it meant more 'non-toxic' than truly edible. We carved pumpkins that night, too. They had to be hauled all the way from the base in Yokosuka, because the only pumpkins they have in the local stores are small, green, and tasty ones called kabocha. It was strange to not go to the pumpkin patch this year, or to see piles of big, orange pumpkins outside of Safeway all month.

















Halloween proper rolled around, but unfortunately D was sick and couldn't go to school for the festivities (same as last year - we think he may be allergic to Halloween). He and I laid around and watched movies all day, just as we had the day before (he was sick Monday, too). D isn't good at being alone. I felt really bad for him that he was missing the fun at school AND there wouldn't be any trick or treating in the evening, because this is Japan. I was also disappointed that I didn't get to join the decoration committee or see the costume parade because I was home with D. M wore his ninja costume to school, and had a little candy to show us at the end of the day, which he generously shared with D. There was supposed to be class-to-class trick-or-treating, but that turned into one t-or-t at the office and some activities like a pinata. So, not as big a haul as expected. Oh, well.

I decided to skip Japanese class so I could spend Halloween evening with the family, with pumpkin-themed dinner (hoto with pumpkin) and a viewing of Monster House. While I was making dinner, I had D and Jeff take out the garbage. They came running back in a panic. Here is Jeff's telling in an email to a coworker back in the States:

Everyone told me they don’t [trick or treat in Japan]. Even talked about how the Japanese kids in Yokosuka come on the base to trick or treat. So imagine my surprise when me and D (the youngest) go to take of the trash and we see about 20 kids in costume running from door to door in our condo complex! FUCK! D doesn’t have on a costume and we have bought NO candy. Had I known we would have swamped them with candy. Worse than that, the moms and neighbors see us and wave us over. The kids costumes were awesome. The moms buried us in carefully made goodie bags. They send M off to the neighbors' doors and he comes running back, dumps out his bag, and goes back for more. Later the kids proclaim they love Japan – this is the best Halloween ever!! Meanwhile, I dig up all our snacks, candy left over from Friday’s party, and Sandi’s personal stash so I can shamefully step out to pass out one to each kid – and I run out with three left! I go back in and steal candy from M. 10 minutes later, the door bell rings and a junior high-age girls hands me two more bags of treats. Apparently this was isolated to our complex but God Damn did we get trumped on our own holiday! I later committed seppuku (harakiri) in the living room and tried to wash away the shame with sake. It still hurts. Next year I will hand out backpacks full of candy to the kids in the neighborhood and run a haunted house in the bicycle parking garage. PS In 8 years at our house in Seattle we only had 5 trick or treaters!! Figures.

































Next year...