Ah, it’s Halloween weekend. And that means it’s time for our favorite Japanese festival Jimi Halloween, where people dress up in costumes so mundane 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. We’ve been covering this event since 2018 so you can also take a look at some past years too!
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that statue of the old man in Asakusa’s Kappabashi (photo via @dailyportalz)
Person who was late for work but got issued a late pass at the train station and is now feeling more at ease (photo via @dailyportalz)
That passenger who is very likely getting off at the next stop, opening up a seat (photo via @YSSkywalker)
Big Motor employee (photo via @oboro_zukiyo) (editor’s note: Big Motor is a Japanese used car dealer in trouble for many things but one of them is illegally ordering employees to get rid of weeds outside their stores using herbicide)
Probably that mom friend, but not exactly sure (photo via @youkaikomachi)
That girl in the My Neighbor Totoro poster who doesn’t appear anywhere in the film (photo via @dailyportalz) (Editor’s note: see this article for context)
That person carrying the gloves and scissors during opening ceremonies (photo via @youkaikomachi)
That cashier who is forced to wear something on every holiday (photo via @dailyportalz)
Person trying to go viral with their cat on a roomba (photo via @dailyportalz)
Factory worker who’s been wearing a helmet all day (photo via @dailyportalz)
November 2, 2023 at 7:16 am
This so good in an infinite number of ways. Kudos.
November 10, 2023 at 4:52 am
Ha, my biggeste annual Halloween joy!
(Although a new one was added this year since my 3 year old strangely confuses ‘halloween’ with ‘marathon’ and keeps saying that all the scarily dressed up people look really nice for the marathon…)