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Halloween, celebrated on October 31st, has an interesting history.  Its roots go back over 2000 years to a Celtic festival called "Samhain", which celebrated the end of harvest before the onset of cold-dark winter.  A time of transition, when the Celts believed the spirits of the dead and ghosts would become active (see link below for more details).  Later on, after the Christian All Saints Day was established on November 1st, the night before was called "All Hallows Eve", which later turned into Halloween.  Of note, the Celtic original old festival involved wearing costumes -- a custom which has carried over to current times.  Halloween has come to be observed in Japan, mainly as a time to put up decorations and participate in costume parades or parties.  The Halloween colors of orange, yellow, green, and brown, etc., came to be seen by the Japanese as symbols of the arrival on Autumn.  A wide variety of Halloween decorations, masks, costumes, candy, cakes, and other goods, etc., typically start being sold in stores during late-August -- (following the end of the O-Bon festival, in which the spirits of the dead are believed to return to Earth).  While children do not go around Japanese neighborhoods doing "trick or treat", many young adults and other partiers will dress up in costumes and go out into the bar districts to walk around and have fun -- like a giant cosplay event.  Theme parks such as Tokyo Disneyland will run Halloween-themed festivities.  It is also common for families to invite friends and kids together to have home parties with Halloween ornaments and food & drinks.  For more information on how Halloween is observed in Japan, please click on the link at the bottom.  We hope you will enjoy this special time of the year in Japan.

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LINKS:

Origins of Halloween

https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-halloween

Halloween in Japan

https://lingopie.com/blog/halloween-in-japan/