Scary Halloween

I call this series "Univer(sal)ity Capitalism: Built on the Bones of Faculty, Staff and Students" (October 2024).

More on the door: I couldn't forget the Great Pumpkin... or the hand...

Happy Halloween 2023! In memory of Professor Mark Hollstein and all of his monsters...

Since my own office door is occupied as we celebrate the Hanshin Tigers taking on the Orix Buffaloes in the Japan Series, I have annexed Mark's door for the annual Halloween decorations. Happy Halloween! Go Tigers!

Beware of Devil's Night and Happy Halloween from VAOJ!

'Tis the season...

"It's the Great Pumpkin..." in Japan

Happy Halloween! (But first, beware of Devil's Night...)

Happy Halloween! Why Does Kit Kat have Japanese Sign Language on its wrappers?

One of my students showed me a photo of a special Halloween Japanese Kit Kat candy bar with spooky characters doing Japanese Sign Language (JSL) on the wrapper. What? Why? What's going on? So I had to investigate (and buy some of those Kit Kats...)

Kit Kat is popular in Japan because of its many (glocalized) flavors: Green Tea Flavor, Strawberry Cheesecake, Apple Vinegar, Sweet Potato, Wasabi, Sakura, Choco Banana to name a few. For more of this see the recent "In Japan, the Kit Kat Isn’t Just a Chocolate. It’s an Obsession" in The New York Times Magazine, Oct. 24, 2018.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/24/magazine/candy-kit-kat-japan.html

Well, I haven't found very much in my investigation but others have noticed the sign language as well:

My KitKat has Japanese Sign Language on it.

KitKat みんなでハロウィンブレイク！

キットカットの手話イラスト

What's the connection between Kit Kat and sign language? Does anybody know?

The mystery continues with this video (not JSL... Is it a real sign language? If so, what?)



If you know anything, please share! And Happy Halloween!

Happy Tachinomiya Halloween - and - (Pre-)Announcement: AJJ Presentation in December: "Tachinomiya: Photo Exhibition as Research Method"

Here's another post about Halloween in Japan. Again, Halloween has exploded here in the last several years in terms of celebrations, events and merchandise. Halloween has even touched the traditional tachinomiya that has been the subject of my latest research and photo exhibition. The photo above shows the Halloween decorations up now at the shop (yes, research continues - see below). The following shots are from my previous fieldwork in 2015. None of these shots have been showed before because I didn't want to deal with Halloween issues in the exhibition. So here they are for you now to enjoy. And if you can't make it to the tachinomiya to enjoy the Halloween decorations, the Christmas decorations will undoubtedly be up soon.

I have been informed that my paper presentation, "Tachinomiya: Photo Exhibition as Research Method" has been accepted for the Anthropology of Japan in Japan (AJJ) Fall Meetings in December at Doshisha University in Kyoto. As soon as the official schedule is announced I will post my formal announcement with the thesis for the presentation as well as information about the AJJ meetings. For more information about my project see the posts listed below.

And Happy Halloween from VAOJ!

Photo Exhibition and Visual Ethnography - "Tachinomiya: There Are Two Sides to Every Noren"
URL: http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.jp/2016/01/photo-exhibition-and-visual-ethnography.html

"Tachinomiya" Photo Exhibition and Visual Ethnography: The First Week
URL: http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.jp/2016/02/tachinomiya-photo-exhibition-and-visual.html

"Tachinomiya" - A Successful and Memorable Photo Exhibition/Event/Research Method
URL: http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.jp/2016/02/the-exhibitionevent-tachinomiya.html

「31st」- A Film about Halloween in Japan

Halloween in Japan has exploded in the last 10-15 years or so. Now, Halloween merchandise and activities start in August and sometimes even continue into November. I would even make the claim that Halloween sales and celebrations rival those of Christmas in Japan. Globalization moves quickly. The recent popularity of Halloween here is hard to convey to my students, after all many of them are used to such things in their own countries. But the numerous comments and observations of old-timers and long-term residents voicing their own surprise ("Where did all this Halloween stuff come from?") justify my comments here. One of my former students noticed some differences between the celebrations in Japan and the United States and decided to make a short film about the subject. I think the film is quite good in capturing the differences as well as student attitudes towards the holiday and their use of social media. I am happy he has made it available on YouTube. Watch, enjoy and get in the trick-or-treating mood.

Halloween at Tokyo Skytree... and the cats do not look happy!

Video from The Japan Times - Multimedia, Oct. 19, 2017.

Captain America in Japan is a Photographer...

Sorry this Halloween photo is a bit late. And no, this is not a self portrait.