The only way to know that Halloween is being celebrated in Tokyo is to check the calendar.

Japanese enjoy Cosplay (costume play) where fans dress like characters they like throughout the year, young ladies dress a part to, um, please clientele.

However, once a year the real Halloween comes and Japan is happy to play along…including Halloween parades.

Pirate themed Santa Claus, girly-vampire-nurse, cloudy-red-tailed whatever.

In the summer, Obon takes place - the dead return home to their graves to visit the living…sound familiar?

Japan loves a festival…what's more they love an opportunity to make money, sell costumes, cards, gather to drink, dress as a French bar maid or look like Sailor Moon.

Huge pumpkins, trick-or-treat…yup, lots of ways to make money.

Who do you like to dress up as at Halloween? 

See also:

Halloween - When Decorations Go Too Far - a Lynching

It's Halloween - 8 Real Cases of Corpse Abuse

Disney Channel & Halloween

Tokyo's Monster Mash Just In Time for Halloween