I know about Obon from a GO TO THE BEDS song 「現状間違いなくGO TO THE BEDS」 The MV shows them repeating scenes from other WACK idol groups' MVs, which didn't really link to the song title at first, so I had a stab at translating the lyrics. The chorus repeats the phrase 危ない　お盆 which a lot of online tools couldn't cope with. I eventually got it to 'dangerous Obon', but needed further Google work to find out what Obon was - honouring the spirits of your ancestors. Penny drop. They were honouring previous WACK idol groups BiS and BiSH by repeating the dodgy / controversial / unpleasant bits of their MVs, hence 'dangerous'. That made my translation of the title fit too "It's definitely GO TO THE BEDS" - you may have thought it was BiS or BiSH from the video. For someone with zero Japanese skills, to get that much understanding was an achievement, although I still don't know if I really have the correct interpretation. It's good enough for me. (All the WACK stuff is too popular for a reaction, but I'd recommend a look - it's often amusing.) The other spooky thing I know of from Japan are the various toilet ghosts and related characters (which links to Aka Manto, apparently Squid Game's inspiration). I found out about this via one of Japan's most extreme idols, 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-san - both hilarious and disturbing. Believe it or not, she's played (messy) shows in the UK. There's also the whole Kappa thing if you dig back into folklore, but perhaps that's weird rather than spooky. As for Halloween, it's a European religious festival (All Hallows' Eve) that the Americans have over-commercialised. I'll let them off - it's kinda fun.

What do you think of Halloween in Japan? I'd love to experience it in Shibuya, Tokyo one day!

Are there a lot of pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns on Halloween in Japan? 🎃

来年はさだこ👻