In Tokyo, Halloween is starting to become a bigger commercialized American 'festival' - of sorts. I am one of the few people who attempts to get gay-buds to dress up and go out on Halloween weekend. We're rounding up in Tokyo Ni-chome gay district on the Saturday before Halloween.
Check out the Eventbrite link below for maps and to RSVP (not needed) since it's a commercial bar and open to the public, also viewable from the street since it is mainly right on the street. Or you can also read more info about our Oct 29, 2016 Halloween Costume Street Party at the end of this entry. For now, the party is impromptu, starts after 9:00pm and runs until 2:00pm with an after-party at one of the late-bars (Kinsmen), costumes are not required, but please wear one - the sexier the better! See the map to Aiiro Cafe below. You can compare this one with the Google Map above.
Aiiro Cafe (formerly Advocates Cafe) is just 7 meters from the corner (traffic light) on Nakadori ('center-street') of Ni-chome. (二丁目）
The bar opens up right onto the sidewalk, so you can't miss the crowd as it starts to gather and spill out into the street.
The map is a little bit old. Sunkus Convenience Store is now Lawson's (I think).Shinjuku Park has been dismantled - there's nothing left but a small public restroom on the corner.
Halloween used to be pretty wild in Tokyo. There used to be a time when hundreds of costumed foreigners would gather at Shinjuku train station for a raucous ride around the green circle train, the Yamanote Line. At a designated time on the Saturday before All Saint's Day or Tous Saints (Nov 1) (or All Hallow's Eve (Oct 31), as many as 500 foreign residents would all board a late evening train headed counter clockwise around the center of Tokyo. Since Halloween is on a Monday (Oct 31), the gay city event will be held this year on Saturday, October 29, 2016 from 9pm until 2 am (or later).
At each station, approximately 2-4 minutes intervals, the whole gang would jump off the train car (actually more like a subway although mainly above ground) and then dash into another train car in a mad howling mass - before the doors closed. Of course, it causes chaos and a lot of local commuters were also pushed and shoved. So it used to be a kind of revenge act for all those other 51 weeks when we are involuntarily packed like sardines on our way to and from work every day.
At each station, approximately 2-4 minutes intervals, the whole gang would jump off the train car (actually more like a subway although mainly above ground) and then dash into another train car in a mad howling mass - before the doors closed. Of course, it causes chaos and a lot of local commuters were also pushed and shoved. So it used to be a kind of revenge act for all those other 51 weeks when we are involuntarily packed like sardines on our way to and from work every day.
People wore all kinds of simple and elaborate costumes, but I love to see the straight men wearing a yukata (summer kimono) with nothing on underneath, so their freeballing ended up becoming a point of departure for an interesting conversation over beers after the 'wild ride.' Invariably, you would meet a new group of mildly acquainted people and stay out in the bars and streets under the sunrise.
Because there was a lot of 'incidental damage' to the trains (broken light fixtures, trash, and people getting hurt - mainly some drunk participants slipping or getting caught in train doors), the police decided to put a complete stop to the shenanigans a few years back. So hundreds of them arrive around the suspected witching with shields and riot batons, ready to stand firm (and maybe 'erect' too) if a crowd of mainly white people in weird clothes shows up. So far no one has seemed to see that simply choosing another station on the circle or working in tandem with cellphones from various small stations would allow the 'Wild Ride' to go on. The problem is that 500 strangers don't usually meet up and then go in cohoots to plan what might be considered a urban terrorist act.
I'll be at the Gay Halloween Costume Street Party that is starting to become a mini tradition on the street in front of Advocates Cafe (gay bar) in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ni-chome district ( a 10-minute walk from the main Shinjuku Train station). See maps above.
If you are in Tokyo on Sat, Oct 31, then drop by Advocates (in costume or without) or you could try
Back in Shinjuku, I may be dressed as a Greek Senator - in a toga, the one I described from N2N in an earlier blog posting, or in another costume or two that I'll have on hand for the evening.
Stop by and give me a Trick or Treat, or just say hello.
Cheers,
Kelly sunbuns99 / sunbuns / sunbunz
Kelly sunbuns99 / sunbuns / sunbunz
