Chapter 7: The Yamanote Halloween party

There's a photo of me wearing a Halloween mask on top of my forehead and a white dress. My costume made me look like I had been lifted out of a fiction novel.

In this photo, I'm surrounded by other people also wearing masks. But we're all wearing Halloween outfits. We look crammed onto train seats while holding onto the train poles. It was taken during a Yamanote Halloween Party, my first-ever Halloween celebration in Japan, and it was unforgettable. It was exciting, unexpected, and risky at the same time. It was unbelievable because I had never experienced the Yamanote Halloween party before and didn't even know what it was until my friend suggested it.

I didn't know much about Halloween growing up. In England, it was a small event. We knew how important pumpkins and trick-or-treating were, but it wasn't a big tradition compared to the Americans. Plus, it meant very little at my Catholic school. My Asian-born parents didn't celebrate it either, so my experience of Halloween came from watching scary movies late at night. The idea of celebrating it in Japan felt surreal and entirely novel.

My Japanese friend suggested we go out for Halloween and told me to "dress up." I remember going to Don Quijote, a store where you could find costumes for as little as $10. Everything from nurses to Pokemon characters was available, and the city was fully decked out for the holiday.

There were pumpkins everywhere, themed shops decorated with cobwebs, and people made elaborate Halloween-themed cupcakes and cakes with scary cats, witches, ghosts, and other spooky designs. It was fun, especially since the Japanese are fond of Gothic and cyberpunk fashion, so they weren't opposed to the strange and surreal.

The Japanese took Halloween seriously with its creativity and flair.

The Yamanote Halloween Party is on the Yamanote Line (light green line), one of Tokyo's main train lines, looping around the city. The event started in the 1990s and was an impromptu gathering of foreigners (gaijin) living in Japan: English teachers, expats, and some open-minded locals.

People would board the train in costumes, bringing music, drinks, and the Halloween spirit. While trains in Japan are usually quiet and respectful spaces, this party transformed them into moving celebrations. It felt like entering a surreal world of Halloweeners laughing, dancing, and getting festive on a regular commuter train.

That night, I met people from all over the world, many in elaborate costumes. I felt underdressed but thrilled to be part of the fun. The train looped around the city for hours as we celebrated and shared stories. At one point, an undercover police officer joined our carriage. One of our Japanese-speaking friends asked him why he was there, and he replied honestly: the police were there to make sure we were safe, not to shut down the party, and to help Japanese passengers understand this foreign tradition. 

Throughout our journey, I never felt threatened. The police would simply observe us at each station without intervention. Officers were stationed at every platform, watching over us, ready to step in if there were any conflicts with other passengers. But, at the time we didn't know that. We were completely shocked when he told us this.

Japanese trains are known for their silence and order. But, despite the cultural clash this party felt harmonious. The police understood that Halloween was an important tradition for us and allowed us to celebrate safely. I never felt threatened or unwelcome during the night. Instead, it felt like a celebration of community, a chance for foreigners to connect and share joy in a city that thrives on its eclectic energy.

Sadly, the Yamanote Halloween Party has faced challenges in recent years and during COVID. Signs outside Shibuya Station now prohibit Halloween celebrations, and the party's disruptive nature to the train system probably played a role in its decline.

When I last visited Tokyo in October 2024, I saw no signs of the party returning. I'm grateful I experienced this once-in-a-lifetime event. It was a moment where I felt completely welcomed and safe, an opportunity to meet people worldwide in a tiny train carriage. We could be ourselves, protected by the police. While I wonder if the event ever truly went "off the rails," during my experience, there was no disruptive behaviour.

It was one of the strangest things I will never experience again. You would never see something like this in New York, London, or anywhere else in the world—an entire train carriage could be "hijacked" by foreigners and permitted to celebrate Halloween so freely and without interruption. I'll always cherish the memory of being part of something so extraordinary, even if it's now a relic of the past.

Please note: Names and places have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals and organisations