While Halloween is not as widely celebrated as is in many English-speaking countries, it has certainly caught on in many of our students' countries.

Since October 31st is coming up real soon, let’s take a look at what questions we can ask our students as well as what vocab words (bolded below) we can introduce if we have a chance to talk about this!

What’s Halloween in East Asia like?

Like other newer holidays that came from the West, Halloween was first adopted by commercial centers and other business interests. 

As a result, you won’t find people decorating their houses or children going around the neighborhood asking for candy. However, stores and shopping centers will be decorated with spooky things like jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, spiders, and tombstones.

(Here in Taiwan, I walked into a chain pharmacy to find paper spiders descending from the ceiling when the automatic doors opened … and it was only September!)

• What kind of Halloween decorations have you seen recently? 
• Do you like Halloween decorations and the atmosphere they create?
• Would you like to decorate your home for Halloween?
• Would you try out Halloween-themed products like coffee and baked goods?
• Are there any Halloween sales events?

Trick-or-treating also isn’t prevalent in East Asia. However, you will find establishments like department stores hosting events where they give candy to children.

• Do any places give out candy to children for Halloween near you?
• On what occasions do people give each other candy in your country?

But this doesn’t mean that trick-or-treating doesn’t happen at all! A Japanese student of ours once told me a story about a group of children who showed up at her house all dressed up. She felt bad for not having any candy to give them, so she gave them the next best thing she had: little yoghurt drinks.

• If a bunch of children showed up at your house to trick-or-treat and you didn’t have any candy, what would you give them instead?
• Do kids trick-or-treat in your town or city? If so, when did kids start doing that?

And just like in English-speaking countries, children in East Asia love putting on Halloween costumes, too. They usually wear them to their elementary school or English cram school.

• What kind of costumes are popular with kids in your country?
• If kids don’t trick-or-treat in your country, where do they wear their costumes? Do they get to walk around in them?
• Have you ever worn a costume before?

But Halloween isn’t just for kids!

Halloween For Adults

Some adults in East Asia also have fun on this day. Many (less traditional) companies will invite employees to wear costumes to work.

• Do you know of any companies that invite their employees to wear Halloween costumes to work? Do you think your company would do this?
• Would you be OK wearing a Halloween costume to work? Why? Why not?

While Halloween celebrations are less common among the older crowd, lots of young people in our students' countries go to Halloween parties.

• Do people celebrate Halloween in your city/country? What events are there?
• Have you ever been to a Halloween party? If not, would you like to go to one?
• Have you ever dressed up for Halloween? If not, is there anything you would like to dress up as?

By far the biggest Halloween gathering in East Asia occurs in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where hundreds of thousands of adults show up to party. See this video to get a taste:

In fact, the crowds got so rowdy that district officials now partially ban drinking on the day. 

Something unique about adult Halloween costumes in Japan is there are a lot of people who cosplay as their favorite character from an anime or a video game. 

• Do you have a favorite character from an anime or video game? 
• Have you ever cosplayed? Why? Why not?
• How common is cosplay in your country?

In fact, the prominent cosplay culture is probably one reason Halloween caught on in Japan in the first place. (See: “A Short History of Halloween in Japan.”) 

• What factors do you think allowed Halloween to become popular in your country?
• Is Halloween an important holiday in your country?
• In Japan, Halloween has surpassed many traditional holidays in importance. What do you think about this? (Some Japanese lament that Halloween is now more important than some traditional holidays.)

More General Questions

FInally, don’t forget you can take this opportunity to ask lots of more general questions on spooky topics.

• What holidays in your country are related to the dead?
• Are there any popular ghost stories in your country? 
• Do you like horror movies?
• Are there any haunted houses in your country?
• Do you like being frightened? Why? Why not?
• Do you believe in ghosts?

Check out these Halloween-related Daily News articles for more inspiration! And if you have students who are kids (or adults who take part in Halloween festivities), encourage them to wear their costume to your next lesson together!