Each year we look forward to Halloween, not for the ghosts and ghouls but for Japan’s jimi (mundane) halloween costumes: outfits so ordinary that they have to be explained.
The tradition was started in 2014 by a group of adults at Daily Portal Z who “kind of wanted to participate in the festivities of Halloween, but were too embarrassed to go all out in witch or zombie costumes.” So instead of the flashy and flamboyant costumes they had been seeing gain popularity in Japan, they decided to dress up in mundane, everyday costumes.
You can comb through social media using the hashtag #地味ハロウィン but below we present to you some of our favorites from this year’s festivities.
Guy who leans in as his Mario Kart character turns a curve (@NendooMAN)
Girl who started decluttering but ended up on her phone (@itochan525)
Person who tried to remove their mask but their glasses came off with it (@suiru_k)
Person who forgot they were wearing a mask and took a sip of their coffee (@hndsgr)
That neighbor in the murder-mystery that’s like, “I haven’t seen my neighbor in 3 days” (@ABK40)
That person who showed up for the free trial lesson (@chihiro312)
That cashier who looks away as you enter your debit PIN (@ochagakari)
That person who brought their own bag to the supermarket but it wasn’t enough (@dosanko_madam)
Retro-style video accompanying a karaoke song that has nothing to do with the lyrics (@purotein_oyazi)
Person who booked a conference room but there’s someone in it and now they’re checking to make sure they actually booked it before knocking (@ssg_pr)
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