Turning Japanese: You can be ANYTHING - or how i learned to not hate the tradition of dressing up for Halloween

Halloween has never been my favorite of Holidays. Given that it comes a month before Thanksgiving, and only 2 before Christmas, it has constantly been overshadowed in my mind by my love for the warmth of the true holiday season. Yes, it does fall into place as yet another autumn holiday based around eating (though not cooking, which makes me sad) but particularly the dress-up aspect of it has never really caught my fancy.

Ask anyone. In college i was generally the least likely to join the fun of planning, buying, brainstorming, and getting excited over costumes. Freshman year i didn't dress up at all. Sophomore year, while the rest of my sextet vied for different members of the Spice Girls I volunteered to wear devil ears and a red shirt so as not to double up on any of the Spices. Junior year i was lucky enough to ditch the dress up aspect of the holiday all together while in Thailand, and instead spread the excitement of bobbing for apples and painting faces. And senior year my last-minute costume idea was mostly based on a desire to join my friends at the bar.

So when this year's JET Halloween Party was introduced, i was surprised at my own excitement. Not to plan the greatest costume or one that would win my the prize (which was a sweet one - a train pass for the JR line) but just to go out with friends and enjoy a holiday that, for the most part, Japanese people just don't understand. In the end I pulled off a costume largely from my own wardrobe and the hyaku-en store (always remembering that i could steal Stiff's idea and go as Tom Cruise from Risky Business if i felt like going pants-less) and went as a 1950s Housewife ala Lucille Ball or June Cleaver. Sadly the curled hair, red lipstick, poufy skirt, pearls, cardigan, and apron were lost of most non-Americans, but I didn't care.

Some of my more favorite costumes on exhibit included: two PowerRangers, Tokyo Tower, Scott's Cardboard Robot (he won the costume competition, i think for sheer perserverance at wearing gigantic cardboard boxes and dancing all night long), and more.