Halloween trees are one of the most unique and interesting aspects of Halloween in Japan, typically decorated with orange lights, pumpkins, and other Halloween-themed ornaments, such as ghosts, bats, and spiders. They are often placed in hotels and businesses.
Japan has a history of borrowing a foreign holiday and modifying it so that it fits their culture, like how the country celebrates the Christmas season with lights, music, and decorations in a big way, instead of focusing on religion (less than 1% of the Japanese population identifies as Christian). In the West, Halloween is mainly about children going door to door to get candy from homes that are decorated for the holiday- this is not done in Japan.
Instead, Japanese Halloween culture -just like Japanese Christmas culture- focuses on visual presentation and seasonal limited-edition items. The Halloween tree is a part of the visual focus. And just like in the West, businesses in Japan utilize seasonal spirit as a part of a business strategy to draw customer attention.
When it comes to work in Japan, things are done quickly, including how Japanese establishments operate on seasonal turnarounds, executing an overnight transformation from a major Halloween display to a Christmas one on the night of October 31st. Because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving, retail and venue staff work through the night to replace Halloween representation with Christmas displays by the morning of November 1st. To pull off this transition without rebuilding displays from scratch, visual merchandisers rely on premade, modular pop-up components and pre-wired frameworks stored in the Back of House, allowing them to be able to put out fully assembled Christmas trees and holiday displays the moment the establishment is closed on Halloween. And in very populated cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, a tall, slim tree usually doesn't obstruct the high level of people traffic, while also not taking up a lot of floor space.
Many people began taking note of Halloween trees in Japan during the 2010s, and it's possible that they were inspired by American home décor and furnishings company Grandin Road, which began selling Halloween trees in 2004. By 2013, they had nearly 400 Halloween decorations for sale, with their Spooky Halloween Willow Tree being a customer favorite.
The difference between this style of tree and the Japanese Halloween trees is that the ones in Japan look like Christmas trees, which have been a part of Japanese culture since 1900.
Halloween trees are an increasingly popular, festive, and entertaining way to celebrate the Halloween season, and also a great way to add a touch of Halloween to your home or business. If you are visiting Japan during the Halloween season, be sure to check out the Halloween trees. You won't be disappointed!
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