Halloween Thread

[krim]

bmwracer wrote:

I actually had real work to do today.

now i KNOW you're lying! Caught red handed

[bmwracer]

krim wrote:

now i KNOW you're lying! Caught red handed

Nuts.

I gave it a shot.

*needs to work on acting skils*

[Wynter]

On Topic: So are you telling me (by lack of posts) that no one dressed up today?!
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[gaijin mark]

Wynter wrote:

On Topic: So are you telling me (by lack of posts) that no one dressed up today?!

A paucity of posts permeates the pumpkin patch. (In other words, no, I didn't)

[Wynter]

gaijin mark wrote:

A paucity of posts permeates the pumpkin patch. (In other words, no, I didn't)

Awwwww... yer no fun. I had a kid who came to class and claimed to be a pathological liar. "They look and dress the same as everyone else."

I made him do his presentation first.
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[Tu_triky]

gaijin mark wrote:

A paucity of posts permeates the pumpkin patch. (In other words, no, I didn't)

nice alliteration...i like that.

[gaijin mark]

Wynter wrote:

Awwwww... yer no fun. I had a kid who came to class and claimed to be a pathological liar. "They look and dress the same as everyone else." I made him do his presentation first. :devilangel:

Teachers like you are the reason I ran away from home and joined the circus

[Wynter]

gaijin mark wrote:

Teachers like you are the reason I ran away from home and joined the circus

It's why we go into the profession in the first place, really.
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[Tu_triky]

Japan tricks and treats itself to Halloween

By Elaine Lies

Tokyo - Ghosties and ghoulies, princesses and pumpkins took to the streets of Tokyo this weekend as Japan celebrated one of its newest festivals - Halloween.

Little known two decades ago, Halloween has spread in cities such as Tokyo, where autumn now sees florists selling pumpkins, shopping arcades festooned with paper Jack o'lanterns - and even black-and-orange costumes for dogs on offer at pet shops.

Halloween, as Japan now knows it, is unabashedly American, and few Japanese know much about its origins.

"It's a time to dress up and have fun," said Yukiko Kobayashi, 34, whose four-year-old daughter Kao wore a princess costume while watching a Halloween parade at Tokyo Disneyland.

Shunsuke Fujita, a seven-year-old dressed as a ghost at a Sunday Halloween parade, said: "It's a festival for ghosts, and it's fun because we get candy."

The festival's roots in All Hallow's Eve - the day before All Saint's day, which commemorates the death of Christian martyrs - resemble a traditional Japanese Buddhist holiday known as Obon.

But the three days in August when Japanese spirits are believed to return to earth are a mostly solemn time when families visit cemeteries to honour their ancestors.

"Halloween, like Christmas here, has no connection to religion," said Takayo Yamamoto at Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living.

"It's all promotion for toyshops, florists and candy stores."

Most people trace the start of Halloween in Japan to Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983. The same year, a Tokyo toy store sponsored the first "Harajuku Pumpkin Parade", now an annual event in a Tokyo shopping area popular with youth.

Merchandisers have seized on Halloween as a welcome oasis in a long dry stretch from the summer holidays to Christmas.

"After all, in October there's nothing else to catch anybody's attention," said Masako Asaji, who has filled her restaurant's window with tiny Jack o'lanterns.

Some shops put up Halloween decorations in early September.

"When we first started with Halloween, we only had a one-day event, since people didn't really get the idea," said Hiroshi Suzuki of Oriental Land, which runs Disneyland.

This year, though, Tokyo Disneyland began its daily Halloween parade on September 12, three days before Disney World in Florida.

"It's a good way to bring in customers," Suzuki said.

Thousands packed the park one recent weekday to scream and shout as skeletons and Disney characters dressed in Halloween costumes cavorted. Vendors sold treats with a Japanese twist: sweets made from pumpkin and sweet red bean paste.

The number of Japanese marking Halloween is still tiny and few engage in the American custom of "trick-or-treating" - going door to door to collect sweets.

But awareness of the holiday is growing. A recent survey showed some three-fourths of Japanese had heard of the holiday.

For Japanese youth, some of whom already engage in the hobby of "cosplay", dressing up as characters from "manga" comics or "anime" cartoons, Halloween is another chance for fantasy fun.

"Halloween is a time when you can do whatever you want," said said Rie Kakuda, 20-year-old florist dressed as a princess in an ankle-length dress with ruffles at Disneyland.

"You're free."



Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Ota

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=qw1162105741243W643

[Wynter]

Tu_triky wrote:

The festival's roots in All Hallow's Eve - the day before All Saint's day, which commemorates the death of Christian martyrs - resemble a traditional Japanese Buddhist holiday known as Obon. But the three days in August when Japanese spirits are believed to return to earth are a mostly solemn time when families visit cemeteries to honour their ancestors.

The Spanish have a similar event, which actually takes place on Halloween. They head to the cemetaries, and although it isn't a solemn occasion, they celebrate the spirits/ancestors that have passed before them and rejoice in their lives, etc.
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[Tu_triky]

Wynter wrote:

The Spanish have a similar event, which actually takes place on Halloween. They head to the cemetaries, and although it isn't a solemn occasion, they celebrate the spirits/ancestors that have passed before them and rejoice in their lives, etc.

is it similar to the the Mexican Dia de Muertos (day of the dead)?

[Wynter]

Tu_triky wrote:

is it similar to the the Mexican Día de Muertos (day of the dead)?

I had to google Mexican Día, and from what I read I believe it is. I'll ask the friendly janitor at school about it, since he was the one who was telling me about this spanish festival in the first place.
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[boris]

Wynter wrote:

The Spanish have a similar event, which actually takes place on Halloween. They head to the cemetaries, and although it isn't a solemn occasion, they celebrate the spirits/ancestors that have passed before them and rejoice in their lives, etc.

Hm, that's interesting info. We don't celebrate Halloween either, but have four All Souls' Days* (Zadushnica) in a year when we visit cemetaries and commemorate our deceased ancestors.

* - not sure if this is right translation
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[Wynter]

boris wrote:

Hm, that's interesting info. We don't celebrate Halloween either, but have four All Souls' Days* (Zadushnica) in a year when we visit cemetaries and commemorate our deceased ancestors. * - not sure if this is right translation

OOOooohhhh. And is this a religious thing, or a cultural thing?
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[Tu_triky]

boris wrote:

Hm, that's interesting info. We don't celebrate Halloween either, but have four All Souls' Days* (Zadushnica) in a year when we visit cemetaries and commemorate our deceased ancestors. * - not sure if this is right translation

yes All Souls Day it's a commerative day in the Catholic religion as well

[bmwracer]

Wynter wrote:

On Topic: So are you telling me (by lack of posts) that no one dressed up today?!

Not me... Haven't done it since Junior High.

One of the few things I don't miss about youth.

Oddly, my boss dressed up today as an old fat man with stubble... I woulda thought she would've showed up as Queen Elizabeth or maybe Genghis Khan.

[Shani]

Wearing my costume at work would be a bad idea. But a number of people here dressed up this year; I'm sort of surprised because the best someone did last year were cat ears and a tail.

~Shani~
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[bmwracer]

Decades back, we tricked a newbie into thinking that he had to dress up for Halloween... He showed up as a cowboy and everyone else was dressed normally.

Poor guy.

[Wynter]

bmwracer wrote:

Decades back, we tricked a newbie into thinking that he had to dress up for Halloween... He showed up as a cowboy and everyone else was dressed normally. Poor guy.

SO MEAN! LOL!
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[niko2x]

Wynter wrote:

On Topic: So are you telling me (by lack of posts) that no one dressed up today?!

i'll be dressed up at my friends house this weekend at a (late halloween) party as captain jack sparrow.
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