A Halloween tour around the world.

One of the wonders of Disney is that they are so effective at spreading American culture freaking everywhere. I mean, people in three different continents know what "Main Street USA" is supposed to look like, have heard barbershop quartets sing, and get immersed in all other kinds of nostalgic Americana. Disney doesn't just spread fairy dust and princesses, it's an engine for sharing the American dream and a lot of American culture.

Halloween is one of those examples. What the heck do Japanese people know about Halloween? But according to this blogger Disney Tokyo and Universal Studios Osaka have been almost the biggest influences in introducing Halloween to this country. As with any localization, they've taken some liberties and made some adjustments. Here are my observations on the flavors of Halloween.

The splash page for Hong Kong is all about chills and thrills at Halloween.

Hong Kong loves scary Halloween. What is it about Chinese people and ghostly spirits? I definitely grew up terrified of ghosts and convinced of their existence. Do Chinese people just like to get scared? They've got spooky trees and headless horsemen and haunted mansions. Plural.

It does seem like Hong Kong Halloween is targeted to adults. And not much emphasis on costumes.

Although Japan apparently have some scary-as-heck concepts of ghosts who are so evil they will kill you just for fun, their Halloween is a lot more upbeat, really cute and somewhat confused with a harvest festival.

Tokyo's idea of Halloween seems much cuter and cheerier than other versions.

Home-made costumes in Japan way surpass other costumes.

As the originator of cosplay, they also have some awesome costumes (seriously, check out the photos in this girl's trip report) and I'm really looking forward to getting a first-hand look at it tonight. Interesting quirk: Tokyo Disney is the only park that ONLY allows Disney costumes. Teenage Ninja Turtles - stay out. Ditto minions.

Somehow, Disney Paris has managed to work fashion into Halloween with a Minnie Couture fashion kind of a thing.

One of many treat stations around Disneyland Anaheim. People pay $64 to spend five hours collecting handfuls of chocolate in the park.

Disney Anaheim, the original American creation, is the place where Halloween is about candy, kids, and whatever thing you've thrown together called a costume. The trick or treating is a big deal, and something people come to the park for. Which I still don't understand, see my previous blog entry. The American parks are also the ones that have this warning on costumes: "Costumes should not contain weapons which resemble or could be easily mistaken for an actual weapon." Presumably because people running around with guns in the park is an actual scenario they've trained for, and they don't want to have to shoot you to protect the other guests.