Ghoulish

While Halloween is recognised in the UK as an excuse to watch horror movies, buy fake blood and indulge in childish shenanigans, it is celebrated on a greater scale in Japan, with seemingly every shop taking on a supernatural theme. My personal favourite was the giant inflatable vampire Mickey Mouse outside the Neo Mart in Shijo, complete with cape and pointy fangs. Try telling the kids that their favourite Disney mascot has become a blood-sucking Lord of the Undead - though admittedly, he has done far worse; how's about raping a snowman while Goofy does the nasty with Minnie?

Two Halloween parties were on the agenda this year, with the first being held for residents at Mukaijima Gakusei Center and Kyoiku Daigaku students. Looking around the shops for costumes proved somewhat fruitless, with few under the 3000 yen mark (£15 for a novelty item of clothing I will wear twice?). Among the ghosts and witches, there were some particularly Japanese cozzies, with Ringu-esque wig and robe kits, and, of course, Hard Gay accessories (if you don't know who I mean by that, don't be afraid to click the link, as it is mostly innocent).

I decided to create my own costume, and thanks to the local 100 yen shop, my total costume price amounted to around 400 yen total. I give you the most evil medical practitioner known to humankind...Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon. The outfit consisted of a shirt and tie (already owned), a raincoat, a red permanent marker (for blood splatters), pinhole glasses (to make reading/watching TV/driving/etc. less harsh on the eyes) and driving gloves with the fingers snipped off. All in all, I think it was a very effective costume indeed.

I had already helped make a couple of decorations for the party - a couple of pink pumpkins (the orange paint had run out), which were displayed on the wall as we entered the hall near Sumizome station. There were familiar faces (a bunch of fellow Doshisha amigos plus Taavi, Risto and Marcus) and many unfamiliar ones too (I was surprised to see adults and small children present for what I expected to be more of a student shindig). Anyway, there was lots of food and punch to keep us happy and while not a lot happened, apart from someone turning off the lights mid-munching, it was a good try-out of my costume for a bigger party on actual Halloween organised by Kyoto Gaidai at an underground bar called Den-en near Sanjo.

While the food and drink was a complete rip-off, most of Kyoto's costumed youth appeared to be gathered here. The Nightmare Before Christmas played on a big screen, people posed in their spooky get-ups and various party games were organised, including a rock, paper, scissors tournament and bingo (after a disastrous start I was one away on two different lines, but, alas, those numbers forever eluded me). Highlight of the evening were the two live bands, one playing mellow jazz and the next playing some groovy funk, followed by good ole party standards like Johnny B. Goode. I got my groove on, I can assure you - it was like the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance all over again! Then came the costume competition, which I entered but failed to even make the audience judging round! I mean, it wasn't the best, but it was certainly the cheapest and completely home-made! Surely there must be some kind of achievement prize for that! Never mind...Tal and Anthony were runners up for their samurai garb, so I guess that's some consolation. Of couse, no-one can compete against a transvestite - particularly when he had the uninitiated completely fooled.

You can view my Halloween party pics on my Flickr page. Halloween is also central to my Engrish of the week. While scouting for costumes, nestled next to the official Jason Voorhees Friday the 13th hockey masks were unofficial imitations that chose a rather roundabout way of differentiating themselves from their inspiration:

FRIDAY 13 DAY
KILLER MAN MASK
SHOCKING HORROR
THIS PRODUCT
GLOWS IN THE DARK

And as an extra special treat, I knocked out a new movie edit on YouTube. I downloaded footage of Biohazard 4D-Executer, a 3D thrill ride a la Terminator 2: 3D, or maybe Captain EO, based on the Resident Evil series. It was entertaining to watch, even if the CG is rather basic by today's standards, and it probably loses its impact on a little 2D screen. Neverthless, I've cut it up with the Gorillaz track 'M1 A1', which features samples from George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (see what I did there?). It's no Cheeky or Bouncy, but it only took me an hour, and for that I think it's fine.

NOTE: Said movie has been removed from YouTube for Copyright Infringement. Oopsie-daisy!