SisterVibes
A podcast hosted by three sisters in their 40s with a lifetime of stories and insights to share. From growing up in Japan to now living across three continents, we've gone through life's twists and turns. Join us as we dive into our cherished childhood memories, offer our unique perspectives on a wide range of topics, and recount our humble experiences living in different parts of the world. Despite long distances and scheduling conflicts that have kept us physically apart for years, we're here to give you a glimpse of what it's like to have sisters, regardless of the miles that separate us. Are we still the same as we used to be, or have we grown and changed along the way living in diverse locations? Stay tuned; we hope you’ll be entertained!
SisterVibes
25. Fall Edition: ’Tis The Season For A Global Halloween
Halloween takes on wildly different forms around the world- from Japan’s massive Shibuya street party and Disney parades to Germany’s spooky costumes and expanding trick-or-treat scenes. In the U.S., the holiday walks a line between fun and safety, with teal pumpkins signaling allergy-friendly treats, dentist buy-backs, and a shift from crowded haunted houses to calmer fall festivals. While Japan’s celebrations skew adult and urban, and Germany sticks to strictly spooky vibes in October, each country brings its own twist. We also share our first Halloween memories and low-effort “Jimi Halloween” costume hacks to inspire your next party.
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Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2279605
Big shoutout to Allison Gray for generously granting us permission to feature her song, "Off My Mind" (from Ep 05).
I gotta get you out of my system. I gotta get you off of my mind. But how do I move on when no one compares? They only keep me occupied. I gotta break these chains that find me. I try to shake them off so dead, really. Would you pull them tighter? String me along. It's sad, but I'm so gone.
SPEAKER_02:Hi guys. I was wondering, you know, since it's Halloween season and everything, is it like a popular thing in Germany and in Japan? Because I heard in Japan that a lot of people are dressing up these days for Halloween. I don't know if they actually do trick-or-trading or anything, but obviously here in the US, it's a huge thing. People are starting to decorate their houses, and you know, the stores turned Halloween like a month ago.
SPEAKER_04:Which is September.
SPEAKER_02:September. Yeah. So, you know, we do it big in the US. And again, I was curious because I know that I heard it's picking up a lot more in Japan. I don't know about Germany, but I wanted to hear your take.
SPEAKER_03:So in Japan, I think it became a huge deal maybe in the past I want to say 10 years, maybe. Oh. Okay, so in Japan, if you ask someone what they think of when they think of Halloween, I think that most people would say the Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo. And the reason for that is because I want to say again, the last 10 years maybe, I don't know. People actually adults dress up in costumes and they just walk around the Shibuya Crossing. Yeah, like dressed up. Like dressing.
SPEAKER_02:They don't carry like baskets.
SPEAKER_03:No, they don't go to a training. No. They just all gather, they will drink alcohol, because you know that's allowed in Japan. You can drink alcohol in public and they just all get together.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So that's the that's like a big spot people go to in Japan.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and but then I think they banned it, I believe, last year, because it just got out of hand. It was just too crowded. There were too many people. People were getting into fights, and you know, the police were always out there trying to calm people down, and people were getting arrested.
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow. So it's more popular for adults over there, and they don't necessarily go trick-or-treating. You don't see it in your neighborhood.
SPEAKER_03:I don't see it in my neighborhood. I think that somewhere in Japan, I don't know where exactly, definitely not in Tokyo, but there is a custom where kids go trick-or-treating. I don't I don't remember which part of Japan.
SPEAKER_02:Because I know in Japan, isn't there a town that's like anime town where people dress up anyway all the time year-round?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, Akihabara.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, right? So it's more like, yeah. There's like a town, I think Akihabara, like Simi says, where it's like literally everyone is just walking around in anime, like cosplay. But yeah. Oh, but it's like pretty big, right? And the stores are like all cosplay stuff, and that's what I hear.
SPEAKER_03:But then for little kids, they don't go trick-or-treating, but they have like I think more and more people have Halloween parties, they just get together, kids wear costumes, and you know, just decorate with Halloween stuff.
SPEAKER_04:Do you think that it's definitely the Western influence that these people having party in the middle of the street kind of thing started happening? Because how would people know that Halloween exists? Do you think that it was started by foreigners, like you know, Americans or Canadians or I think so?
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. But another big Halloween event, I guess, in Japan is Disneyland and Disney City. We have Disney and Disney Sea in Tokyo, actually in Chipa, but they say Tokyo, Disneyland, Tokyo, Disney had an influence. This big, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And guests do they do parades or something?
SPEAKER_03:They do, and it's during the Halloween pine period. Uh, you're allowed to dress up and cosplay and go to these theme parks. Yeah. Apparently it's a huge deal. Like it's the I think they make the most money out of all the other you know.
SPEAKER_02:I heard the Disney here in the US, at least Disney World in Orlando, also does really big Halloween, but I've never been. So yeah, maybe that's what it is. Maybe that's what maybe piqued everyone's interest over there. I don't know. Hmm. Interesting, but then like at stores, you don't see oh, here's Halloween stuff you can decorate at your house.
SPEAKER_03:Actually, no, yeah, you you do see it now, even at grocery stores and Dyson, like Dollar Tree places.
SPEAKER_02:You know what? When your baby is old enough to walk around, you should start in your neighborhood trick-or-treating, get him a basket, and then just have him start knocking on doors and you go with him and start in your neighborhood.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I can tell them beforehand, like he will be coming, so please give him candy.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, maybe by that time it'll be, you know, well known enough, and everybody wants to do something like that.
SPEAKER_03:I don't think trick-or-treating will ever be a thing in Japan because I don't know, just because of I think people will be too scared for like I don't know, crimes happening. But they're cute kids going to be a good thing. Yeah, but like interesting, I don't think it'll ever happen. Like, it won't probably be a common thing in Japan. It's very common, especially in Tokyo, where you don't even know who your neighbors are because you just don't say hello. Yeah. Greet each other. So it's a very common thing.
SPEAKER_02:Just to keep to yourself in Japan. Yeah, that's true. People respect each other's privacy and they keep to themselves.
SPEAKER_04:Interesting.
SPEAKER_02:What about Germany, Cody?
SPEAKER_04:I can say that when we first moved here back in 2015, there wasn't anything going on, really. Lucas started kindergarten right when we moved, and from kindergarten to grade four, basically like grade school, he went to an international school. It's a bilingual school, so the teachers were speaking in German and English simultaneously per class. Because it was surrounded by kids from all over the place uh in the world, they did have Halloween, just like in the States. But what I realized is a lot of the costumes that you can buy and such, they're all spooky stuff. Nothing like in the US where you know you can dress up as anything, like princess and uh Minecraft. Right. And I wondered if it's because there's also a carnival season here in Europe. It's usually takes place during the weeks leading up to Lent. So the main celebration happens sometime in February or early March. It depends on the year. That's when like kids dress up, adults dress up.
SPEAKER_02:So it's not Halloween season.
SPEAKER_04:No, it's not. Oh. I'm wondering because of that, the Halloween's more spooky stuff, dressed up as a witch or you know, black cat or a skeleton or creepy, Halloween related. Yeah. But during carnival season, which is in February, March, that's when they dress up as anything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, not so much creepy stuff then.
SPEAKER_04:Right. So I'm wondering if that's why they because in the States it's different. Like you can dress up as anything, you can make up anything, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you can be creepy, you can be cute, you can be inflated. Like those inflatable costumes are so funny.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Okay. So I wonder if that's why. The last couple years, there certainly have been kids who have come by our house for trick-or-treating, and we live in a residential complex within our building. There are eight residents. We've seen a couple kids from our building, and then who knows where other kids came from. But last year we had quite a lot of kids, which we were surprised. I was not prepared. I think we had about 20 kids total. You know, we live on the top floor because it's an apartment building, so the kids have to come up the steps or use the elevator.
SPEAKER_02:So last year was the first year you actually had kids come to your door. That many kids, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And I think the year before that, we probably had one or two. It didn't even dawn on me that we needed to buy candies or anything. So we had nothing. We ended up handing out expired popcorn. Oh my god. I think we asked the kids to share so bad. Yeah, we didn't have anything. Like I felt really bad. So we kind of like scrambled stuff that we had or we didn't have, and then some kids had to kind of share. And I was like, oh my god, this is terrible. Yeah. So definitely in the last couple years, kids have started to go trigger trading. You can also see merchandise at the stores. It shows up similarly in the US. Like in September, a lot of people make Jack-O-Lantern, you can purchase pumpkins in the fields, even similar activities, not as big as the states, obviously.
SPEAKER_02:Do adults dress up?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So there are parties. Uh, and Munich is filled with expats. There is a website that someone created, I want to say like during COVID times or maybe after COVID, recent, where if you're interested in opening your doors to give out candies, then you can mark your address. It was created by another expat. So, you know, I think it must be an American or something. If you mark them, you can kind of see if anyone else is doing trick-or-treating around in your neighborhood and you can go to their houses specifically. So it's a cool thing. People started.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I don't think anyone used that to come to our house because we didn't even put it on there. And the kids that came by, they were all local kids. Yeah. And I'm assuming they all live here. Yeah. In this complex.
SPEAKER_02:That kind of reminded me when you said something about like putting something out for people to see. Uh, I don't know if you know this in the US, and I don't know if it's a new thing because in the past, like when we were growing up in trick or trading, I don't remember this at all seeing this, but I feel like it's a newer thing. If people have teal pumpkin on their windows, then it means like they will either give out food, allergy-friendly treats, or they'll give out like trinkets instead of treats so that you know kids with allergies can enjoy it too. And you see them a lot, like everywhere. I don't remember that growing up. No, I don't think we had that. But I also feel like food allergies are a lot more common these days than back then, or at least we hear about it now. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Do you guys remember our first Halloween or trick or treating?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it snowed. Yes. That was our first. What how old were you? Your first one. I think I was 12.
SPEAKER_03:I think I was seven or eight.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, so the first year we actually participated, like first year we came to the US.
SPEAKER_03:I remember I dressed up as a pumpkin, which is very creative.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I was a witch. You must have been like clown or something tomorrow. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_02:You don't really have a costume. You were just I think I remember the picture, but I don't remember the experience.
SPEAKER_03:You had a black beanie on that had a ghost on it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And then I had like a sweatshirt that had like ghost characters or something. I think we went with my friend. Yeah, my dad. She was a witch, right? Again, I only remember that because of pictures. I don't remember the actual experience. Do you guys actually remember the experience? Yes. You do? I don't remember that.
SPEAKER_04:We walked around our neighborhood. I mean, she didn't live anywhere close to us. Maybe I would say 15-minute car ride. She came to our place and we went around in our neighborhood. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my gosh. I thought it was the best thing ever.
SPEAKER_02:So wait, like what did we do actually? We actually knocked on the door and said trick-or-treat. Mm-hmm. So we learned the word trick-or-treat. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And it snowed, which was very unusual at the time. That was what? 1994?
SPEAKER_03:I'm thinking four.
SPEAKER_04:And that was really unusual at the time. Like nowadays, I feel like if somebody says, Oh, it's snowing during Halloween, here at least in the surrounding Munich area, I would not be surprised.
SPEAKER_02:But I I feel like I've been living in Florida for way too long now that I don't remember what's normal, what's not normal when it snows. But it does sound kind of early for Halloween. October 31st. Yeah. So wait, did we get a lot of candy?
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm. I remember the candy. It was the best experience ever. Because you know, I love candies. I love sweets. So it was so fun. We came back home. I think Oka-san took them away because she didn't want us to eat them all at once. So she took them away. And for the next couple months, I was so excited to go home, you know, from school because you know, we get to eat candies from there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, a little at a time. That's what I do too. And then eventually I just throw them out because I'm like, this is too much candy. But you can actually hear, like, you can donate the candy or leftover candy or whatever to your dentist, and you can get something back, I think, depending on your dental office. Like kids can turn in their candy for I want to say money, very little, I think. I could be wrong on that, but that you get something back. It's kind of their incentive to tell kids you shouldn't be eating candy because it's not good for your teeth. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, clearly we've never done it. We I just end up throwing them out.
SPEAKER_04:My friend I have here in Munich sent me this link. Okay, she's hosting a Halloween party, and she asked me, she said, Is this uh how the Japanese people dress up for Halloween? And it's a link to this website. It says that Japan celebrates Jimmy Halloween festival.
SPEAKER_02:Jimmy Halloween?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, just doing mundane relatable things, like it's basically people are dressed in like these costumes as examples. Person standing in line at the security checkpoint of an airport.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you talking about? Do you mean like dress up as TSA?
SPEAKER_04:No, not TSA, but people who are lined up to go through.
SPEAKER_02:What does that mean? How do you dress up as somebody that's traveling and waiting in line at the airport?
SPEAKER_03:It is Jimmy, but it's like how creative can you get?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. They're mundane, like it's nothing outrageous. So, person whose cardigan got caught on a doorknob. Wait, do they carry around a doorknob? I don't know how they made it look like your jacket was caught, but it looks like maybe wires or something inside.
SPEAKER_02:That's pretty funny.
SPEAKER_04:A man who keeps getting mistaken for a store employee.
SPEAKER_02:That's mad. Everywhere he goes, people are like, excuse me. Like, because he'll, for some reason, dress up as a target worker, kind of like he'll wear red and khaki pants or whatever. He's been stubborn a couple times, like wherever we go. And then sometimes he like loves, like if we go to like Best Buy or something, he loves to not argue but negotiate and go back and forth with salesperson. He a lot of times knows more than the salesperson. So then you know, he looks like he works there all the time, or like he'll start talking to customers that come and he'll be like, Oh no, I wouldn't get that if I were you because you know this one has this kind of thing and these features. And I'm like, You don't work here. That's funny. So he he could be that for Halloween, I guess, if he can't.
SPEAKER_03:He can just be himself.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Are you ready to hear other ones? Yes. Person who foolishly ordered care udon, curry udon, which is oodle noodles with curry while wearing a white clothes.
SPEAKER_02:Oh foolishly, and then they get stains on it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's a guy who takes pride in never holding on to anything on the subway. Yeah, I've heard about these actor in an airline safety video. Okay, that could be something.
SPEAKER_02:How do you do that? How do you do that though? Which one? Uh a person that's on the video. In the video?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Like you just wear a vest and you know, pretend like you're giving instructions.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. Well, that's flight attendant.
SPEAKER_04:Guy who just got back from the swimming pool.
SPEAKER_02:So he's just constantly so.
SPEAKER_04:Oh my gosh, this is funny. Makeup guru whose camera can't focus on the product. You know, a lot of times on some YouTube and TikTok, I'm assuming.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, dude. I was gonna do that. I was gonna do that. Like the hand. Yeah, you block the yeah, where they try to focus on the product. Yeah, that's hilarious.
SPEAKER_04:Students who went to the cafe to study but ended up spending the whole time reading manga and looking at their phones.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I guess if I don't have anything, absolutely anything, and I'm walking around, they ask me why I didn't dress up. I'll just come up with something. Yeah, for sure. No, I'm a mom that's trying to drop off my child that soccer practice. Can't you tell?
SPEAKER_04:My friend said that she's inspired from this website by these Jimmy Halloween. Yeah, so I said, I'll have to ask Samia.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I've heard about these Jimmy Halloween things. That's so funny. Actually, that would be a fun party to attend and try to figure out what everyone is. That's true, right? That would be so funny. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04:But I guess it has to be something that everyone would understand, perhaps. Like wherever you're in, if you're on the train, like that guy is standing without trying to hold on to anything on the subway or something. Like you can't do that in the states. Well, I guess you could, but not all the cities have public transportation that people yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I sometimes see those kind of people, like they don't hold on to anything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, actually, I get it that you don't want to touch it, right? Well, not only that, but you're kind of just yeah, I think you're cool testing your balance and your fitness level, right? Like you're like, Oh yeah, I got this. My abs are like good. I can, you know, I don't need to hold on to anything. I do that sometimes, actually. So I totally get it.
SPEAKER_04:I would do it more from like how gross it might be to touch these things. So I wouldn't touch it, you know what I mean? I will try to balance it without touching anything because there's germs and stuff, especially like public transportation outside of Nihon. Like you don't know when it was cleaned last.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, I don't like to touch. Even when I go to like the ATM and stuff, I use my knuckles to punch buttons or like gas station.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, same. Yeah, we have an elevator too here in the building. Yeah, I don't I don't use fingertips. Yeah, but that will be a cool party to go to.
SPEAKER_02:Like everybody just that would be so funny. Yeah, that is so funny.
SPEAKER_04:Come on, you should host it.
SPEAKER_02:I was wondering if I should. And then I would give them ideas. Like, here are some ideas. You know, people will come up with some really creative stuff, I think. That would be more fun than actual Halloween costume party for me anyway. I think you should totally do it. You still have a couple weeks. Well, I don't know about this year, but we got a lot going on this month. But yeah, we still haven't gotten candy now that my kids are getting older because we live in a gated community where it's like basically a large circle. You can walk around in a three-mile circle, and then there's thousands of homes in the community, so it's safer. But now that my kids are a little bit older, Keiko, the older one in high school, will usually go walk around with friends, and obviously she has her phone on her, so I know where she is at all times. And then, you know, I just stay with my younger one with uh her friends usually. Didn't something happen last year? Yeah, in our community, because word got out that there was haunted house. Haunted house is another thing that will happen everywhere during Halloween in the US. It's a huge thing. I don't know about you know, Germany and Japan during Halloween season if they have pop-up haunted houses, but they're everywhere here. Anyway, but in our community, we always had pretty baller haunted house with some paid actors, some volunteers that, you know, would just scare people and then they would really deck it out, right? And last year, word got out that our community was the place to go, and too many outsiders snuck in, mostly teenagers on foot were dropped off right outside of the community, snuck in because it's gated. Yeah, there were thousands of teenage kids, and I remember at one point looking around, thinking something's not right. I mean, it was insane amount of teenage kids. And I started feeling very unsafe for Kiko because she was walking around with her friend. When I noticed like something was a little off, I ended up calling her and I said, you know what, I'm gonna pick you up now because it's not looking right. It's I feel like this is kind of crazy. I'm gonna pick you up and your friend. I don't feel this is safe for you. So I went and picked her up, her and her friend, dropped off her friend at her house, and then brought Kiko back. We tried to end it, I'm equal to my younger one. We tried to end it, but then we came back in our neighborhood. Uh, there were people outside just hanging out. So we decided to hang out with them, and suddenly we heard gunshots, and then uh my kids were freaking out, and I was like, I don't think that's gunshots, that's probably fireworks or something. But then shortly after that, a helicopter was just circling above us, and we're like, Okay, it's time to end the night. So we ended it, but no one was shot, but it was shots fired, I guess, in the air because there were fights or something going on at the clubhouse in our community. So now this year, they're not doing the haunted house anymore. Every year they did it, and it was so cool, but they're not doing it this year. So was haunted house at the clubhouse outside or something? Clubhouse in our community. Okay. Inside that led to outside, kind of. They used the clubhouse inside, they would do like two different courses, one like more amateur, little kids, less scary, and then one that was like super scary for older kids. But yeah, they're not doing that this year. It's kind of a shame, but at the same time, I don't want a repeat of last year. It was really unsafe, and I was glad that I got cake when I did because she would have freaked out. Yeah, that's probably why they're not doing that anymore, I'm sure. No, no, no, yeah, that's why they're not doing it for sure. But they are gonna do like a fall festival, like daytime fall festival thing at the clubhouse instead. But you do have to be careful. You read about all kinds of like crazy people handing out candy that's been tainted, and you know, there's some sick people like that. I'm always happier when the kids receive poise, like small squishmallows or something instead of candy. Yeah, and you get so much that it's kind of out of control. Yeah, who needs that much candy? Yeah, crazy.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, just give it to Sunia.
SPEAKER_02:Are you trying to do a little bit better now that you uh have a baby or are you still eating tons of candy?
SPEAKER_03:I never used to eat tons of candy, I just used to eat candy frequently. Not as much as before.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks for joining us today. Don't forget to review Sister Vibes and make sure to subscribe on the app of your choice so you don't miss our upcoming episodes.
SPEAKER_01:Until next time, John with yourself and all of these games you play. I should have seen through it right from the start, but I chose to give it all away.
SPEAKER_00:Now I said it would give her one to come and give me a pray.
