This year, to entertain my kids and students, I had to dress up for Halloween. I borrowed a mask from my friend who just happened to have one sitting around. Along with the mask, I also used a black rain poncho that my friend had.. thus becoming an alien. Here is me as an alien at a Halloween party…

I decided to be a complete gaijin(foreigner) after the party as I walked from the party to the train station in my costume. Most Japanese people are not accustomed to the idea of Halloween, and a person walking around in an alien costume at night is very strange and scary to most of them. As I walked to the station I saw Japanese people stop in their tracks and move out of my way. Others just cringed and curled up as I walked past them. I heard people say kowai(scary), and from others just a sound of disgust. Closer to the station, some of the younger Japanese found it interesting and came up to wave to me. It was incredibly fun for me to see, yet again, Japanese reactions to things that are not ordinary for them, and this was defiantly one of those things.