As we all know Halloween is a traditional western festival that is celebrated on Oct 31 each year in North America, Oceania and many European countries, because these regions has similarity in culture and custom.  In Asia, we may not widely observe the typical Halloween Day as westerns which features carved pumpkins, trick-and-treating activities and wearing costume depicting scary creatures,, but we do have our own” Ghost Day” that usually spent to honor and commemorate the spirits of deceased relatives and loved ones. 

Japanese’s version of Halloween is called Obon Festival. During this time of the year, special dishes are prepared, bright red lanterns are hung in every house and lanterns are placed afloat on rivers and boats. Lights are lit to show the spirits where their families might be found. Japanese families clean memorial stones for they believe that their deceased ancestors will go back to their birthplaces.

Koreans commemorate the Halloween or Chusok during the month of August. Families visit the tombs and mausoleums and offer food, drink and flowers to show respect to their dead ancestors.

In China, we honor our deceased family members and relatives on Qingming Festival, which usually falls on mid April each year, we drive to our ancestor’s grave and put the offerings of food and flower in front of the tomb, burning paper money symbolizing the dead live rich in the spiritual world and other superstitious activities will be involved.

One interesting thing to note is that in recent years, the western-defined Halloween has gained more and more popularities and influence in Asian counties s especially in bigger cities. Take Shanghai as an example, every year on Halloween eve, we can see many kids wearing holiday clothes, carrying pumpkin lights to walk apartment to apartment to collect candies, or having a Halloween party or doing some other festival activities, the young kids are usually accompanied by their parents, it is indeed a fun time for  both child and adult.

When comes to gifting, unlike in Northern American counties where giving a fun or ghost-themed gift maybe a common practice, the Asian people usually don’t send gift on this occasion partly because the Halloween has not yet become a major holiday in the region and cultures.
 

By Jimmy
Oct 25, 2016