The Metropolis Halloween Primer

The Metropolis Halloween Primer

Our ghoulish guide to the season’s hair-raising hotspots

By

Find your horror home this Halloween (Image via 123RF)
Tokyo Gaijins Halloween Party
Tokyo Gaijins Halloween Party

All dressed up and everywhere to go! For adults, kids and everyone in between, the Tokyo area is crawling with places to get creepy! Check the list for wicked week-long parties, killer costume contests and chilling children’s parades. Just don’t blame us when you wear out your costume!

Evil for Adults

Tokyo Decadance Halloween Party
With DJs, dancers, performers, a horror house zone and a “vampire floor” for Tokyo’s true underground, this promises to be a spectacular night of gothic fun. Blood-suckers need not fear the sun: stick around for the after-party starting from 5:30am.
Oct 18, 10pm, ¥3,000-10,000. Christon Cafe Shinjuku. Nearest station: Shinjuku-sanchome. http://meturl.com/haldecadance

Masquerade of Ghosts
Party on for five straight nights with costume contests, food, a Halloween make-up booth, Mr. & Ms. Masquerade contests and more.  Entrance fees differ by day.
Oct 24-31, 7pm, ¥2,000-3,000(m)/¥1,000-2,000(f), w/1-2d. Brand Tokyo Roppongi. Nearest station: Roppongi.

Tokyo Gaijins Halloween Party
Tokyo Gaijins is a hosting yet another legendary Halloween party. A great place to meet and party with other foreigners, costume contests will be held every 30 minutes from 11pm-1am. Strictly smoke free!
Oct 25, 8pm, ¥2,000-2,500/¥3,000 w/o costume. Propaganda Shot Bar. Nearest station: Roppongi.

Whistlebump Yelloween
Progressive house, techno, trance and more. With DJs Pena, Rougout de Lapin, Groove Patrol, B2B and others—plus live performers and pole dancers.
Oct 25, 9:30pm, ¥3,000(adv)/¥4,500(door). Xex Nihonbashi. Nearest station: Nihonbashi. http://meturl.com/halxex

1073-SP-Glitterball
Metropolis Halloween Glitterball

Metropolis Halloween Glitterball
The legendary Metropolis Halloween Glitterball Party is back at Ele Tokyo! Ladies get in free as we time warp into Futuropolis with the city’s freakiest cyber-spooks and mecha-mummies! So get your jet pack on, because we’ll be giving out prizes for the best dressed, plus special performances by ultra-cool FEMM and beautiful Tokyo Dreamgirl. Tickets online and at the door.
Oct 30, 7pm, ¥2,000(m) w/2d; ladies free; men ¥3,000 w/2d after 10pm. Ele Tokyo. Nearest station: Roppongi. http://meturl.com/halloween

Monster Mashup-Halloween Fiesta Party
Hosted by Tokyo Snow Club and Japonicus, this party is the place to be for music lovers.  Party with five live bands and 12 DJs. They have everyone’s tastes covered with music genres including rock, latino, drum ‘n’ bass, house, electro and dubstep.
Oct 31, 7pm, ¥2,500 (adv)/¥3,000 (door). Daisy Bar. Nearest station: Shimokitazawa. http://meturl.com/showclubhal

Pink Sensation Halloween Party
Join Hello Kitty in her 40th Anniversary Bash at Sanrio Puroland. The usually family-friendly theme park hosts a one-night-only Halloween music festival, with a pink dress code.
Oct 31, 9pm, ¥4,500 (adv)/ ¥5,500 (door). Sanrio Puroland. Nearest station: Tama Center. http://pinksensation.jp/

Fear for All

Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea
Various shows, parades, decorations and evening fireworks—including the Haunted Mansion done up like The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Until Oct 31, various times. Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea.Nearest station: Maihama.

Roppongi Hills Halloween

Roppongi Hills Halloween 2014
Roppongi Hills Halloween 2014

Costume events, Halloween workshops, special restaurant menus and more—including a tie-in with The World of Tim Burton. On October 25, be sure to check out the kids’s (10am) and adults’s (11am) costume parades at Roppongi Hills Arena.
Until Oct 31, various times. Roppongi Hills area. Nearest station: Roppongi.

Tokyo Tower Narikiri Halloween
The first floor of Tokyo Tower’s main observatory has been done up in creepy form. Simple costumes can be borrowed for free, and you’re at leisure to take as many snaps as you like. Complementing the spooky atmosphere, Cafe La Tour is offering a special pumpkin Mont Blanc Halloween cake set for ¥680.
Until Oct 31, 9am-10pm daily, ¥900. 1F Tokyo Tower Main Observatory. Nearest station: Daimon. http://meturl.com/haltower

Bakeneko Parade
Held in Kagurazaka, the setting for Soseki Natsume’s novel I am a Cat, the Bakeneko Parade is a Halloween parade that specializes in cat disguises. Cat make-up services also available: ¥500 for a quick kitty, or ¥1,000 for a professional cat.
Oct 19, 10am, free. Nearest station: Kagurazaka. http://meturl.com/bakeneko

Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Fes
Ikebukuro goes cosplay-crazy, with change rooms and storage available on-site (¥500). If you don’t want to get in on the action yourself, just check out the televised free stage events and special acts from the Tokyo International Film Festival and Newtype publisher Kadokawa.
Oct 25-26, 10am, free. Ikebukuro East Exit area. Nearest station: Ikebukuro. http://ikebukurocosplay.jp

Kawasaki Halloween
There’s something for everyone in La Cittadella, Kawasaki. The 25th opens with kids’s parades and concerts at Club Citta, while things go bump in the night at the Monsters’s Festival. Grown-up ghouls and goblins parade around the site on the 26th before busting some killer moves at the Dancing Pumpkin club party.
Oct 25: Kids’s Parade, 1pm & 3pm; Citta Family Concert, 11am & 2pm; Monsters’s Festival, 10pm. Oct 26: Halloween Parade, 2:30pm; Dancing Pumpkin, 5pm. Various prices. La Cittadella, Kawasaki. Nearest station: Kawasaki.

Shimokita Halloween
The event kicks off with jugglers and other entertainers at 3pm. Strut your stuff in the costume parade from 7pm (¥1,000 w/1d, register online), then let your fangs out all night as Shimo’s hot shops stay open until 5am. Costume contest for kids at 4pm; adults at 8pm. And watch for Vader!
Oct 26, 3pm. Parades start in front of Tsuge izakaya, 5-29-16 Daizawa, Setagaya. Nearest station: Shimokitazawa. http://yokukita-shimokita.com/hw2014

Terror for Tots

Anpanman Children’s Museum and Mall’s Halloween Event 2014
Various shows and activities with the beloved bread-headed cartoon hero.
Until Oct 31, various times, various prices. Yokohama Children’s Museum and Mall. Nearest stations: Shin-Takashima and Takashimacho.

Puro Halloween Party 2014
Various shows and activities featuring Hello Kitty and friends.
Until Oct 31, various times, various prices. Sanrio Puroland.  Nearest station: Tama Center. www.puroland.jp/2014_halloween

Tokyo Dome Happy Halloween 2014

Tokyo Dome Happy Halloween
Tokyo Dome Happy Halloween

This family-friendly event includes a Halloween Kids’ Parade (registration required) on the 18th, as well as face painting 2-4pm weekends and holidays all month. Thrill-seeking event-goers can also investigate the haunted house (¥620).
Until Oct 31, various times, various prices. Tokyo Dome City. Nearest station: Korakuen. www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/news/halloween/2014/

Tokyo Skytree Halloween Magic
On selected dates, get rewarded with candy and presents when you show up at Tokyo Skytree Town in costume. Events include street performances, masquerade laser shows, magical kids’s parades and the mystery adventure Harapeko Detective and the Phantom Pumpkin (¥500).
Oct 3-31, various times. Tokyo Skytree Town.  Nearest station: Tokyo Skytree.

Children’s Halloween Graveyard Mystery Tour
Historic ghost walk for kids 6-18, with ghost stories by candlelight presented by Haunted Tokyo Tours.
Oct 22, from 7pm. Nearest station: Gaienmae. www.hauntedtokyotours.com

Halloween in Tama Center
The streets surrounding Tama Center beckon an assortment of costumers, ranging from fun-loving teens to babies, dogs and even cats dressed in Halloween attire. Plus trick-or-treating.
Oct 25-26, 12:30pm; contest results at 1:30pm daily. Registration 12-12:30pm.Nearest station: Tama Center. Opening ceremony: Oct 24, 4:50pm.  Tama Center. www.tamajack.com

Tamagawa Halloween Festival
Various family-friendly Halloween events in collaboration with Sesame Street, including the Sesame Street Greeting (Oct 25, 26 & 31, 10am) and the Halloween Parade (Oct 26, 11:30am).
Oct 25-31, various times, free. Tamagawa Takashimaya SC. Nearest station: Futakotamagawa. http://meturl.com/tamahal

Asagaya Pearl Center Halloween Costume Contest
This costume contest for parents and kids offers Suginami gift cards worth anywhere from ¥20,000-50,000. Registration must be completed in person at the Pearl Center’s Furusato-kan; limited to the first 100 parent-child combos. If mom and dad aren’t up for it, kids can compete alone for sweets.
Oct 26, 2pm, free. Asagaya Pearl Center. Nearest station: Asagaya. http://meturl.com/halpearl

Halloween Walk 2014
Stamp rally, candy giveaway, face painting, costume contest and more, all centered around historic Western-style houses.
Oct 26, 10am, various venues. Nearest stations: Ishikawacho and Motomachi-Chukagai. http://meturl.com/yamatehalloween

Hello Halloween Pumpkin Parade
Enjoy one of Tokyo’s largest Halloween parades—only for kids under 12 and their parents, though! Also treat rally for parade participants, and other activities throughout the day. Registration required.
Oct 26, 1pm. Registration open 11am-12:30pm on the day, ¥1,000 per child. Starts at Jingumae Elementary School.  Nearest station: Omotesando. www.harajuku-halloween.com

Kichijoji Halloween Festival
A Halloween festival for moms by moms, with unique events such as the Baby Carriage Parade (Oct 29, 3:25pm), where moms flaunt their Halloween-decorated prams. Other events include kids’ parades and trick-or-treating.
Oct 29-31,various times, ¥1,000-2,000, registration required.  Nearest station: Kichijoji. www.kichijoji-halloween.net

Pumpkin time! (Image via 123RF)
Pumpkin time! (Image via 123RF)