By MLE Last updated: February 3, 2022

Spooktacular Japanese Words and Phrases for Talking About Halloween in Japan

Japan knows its way around a spine-tingling ghost story, but it always seems to let down Halloween fanatics from abroad.

You know, the ones who die for costumes, fake blood, mini candy bars, ghost stories and haunted houses.

Well, uh, you might be disappointed by Japan’s Halloween.

That’s because Halloween is a relatively new arrival, so it hasn’t taken off quite yet.

But don’t let that spook you from learning Halloween-related Japanese!

Halloween being an import means that the terms are rooted in words you probably already know, and it’s a prime topic for conversation as you’ll be able to educate and share about Western culture. Besides, what could be more fun than a party or a Japanese scary movie watching session—one where you’ll learn about Japanese terms that relate to Halloween!

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Japanese Halloween Culture

Halloween (ハロウィーン・ハロウィン/はろうぃーん・はろうぃん) is a Western influence, but it’s beginning to take hold in Japan as a fun event and many Western traditions are gaining traction. It hasn’t reached the frenzied status that it has in North America—you won’t see homes and apartments dressed up to appear like haunted houses, or hordes of children knocking on neighbors’ doors to Trick-or-Treat.

However, companies are beginning to get on board with Halloween-inspired merchandise (ハロウィーングッズ/はろうぃーんぐっず), Halloween events at theme parks, and parades (パレード/ぱれーど). The concept of Jack-o-Lanterns/carving contests, and Trick-or-Treat as events have also popped up. So if you go to the right places, you can see some of the events traditionally associated with Halloween in Japan. Or, with some live events being broadcast on TV, you may be able to catch a TV special event.

Costumes (コスチューム/こすちゅーむ) are a natural extension of Cosplay (コスプレ/こすぷれ), so in metropolitan cities—think Tokyo—adults will dress up. Having a Halloween-inspired party with school or work peers/friends is also becoming more common. And many of these elements are grouped as part of autumn events (秋のイベント/あきのいべんと) to make festivities last longer in Japan.

7 Scary-good Study Schemes

Keeping the differences of Western Halloween and Japanese Halloween in mind, you can still have some spooky fun, whether you just want to practice phrases that have a Halloween theme, or if you want to explore the cinematic achievements in horror! Here are some creative and time-tested ideas for celebrating this Halloween in Japanese:

Host a Halloween party entirely in Japanese—from the invitations to the text on the cookies. If you’re answering the door to Trick-or-Treaters in Japanese that will definitely put them on edge!

Write a ghost story in Japanese, or translate an English ghost story into Japanese.

Carve pumpkins into anime or Japanese characters and then introduce your Jack-o-Lantern in Japanese.

Play a Halloween version of Pictionary where guesses can only be made in Japanese. Add in a rule that using English words means a loss of a point.

Visit a haunted house then describe what you saw in Japanese. No fair if you go through the haunted house looking at your feet or with your eyes closed!

Have a treasure hunt where the clues are written in Japanese.

Watch some scary movies in Japanese. Memorize some lines to be used on random Trick-or-Treaters.

Halloween in Japan provides plenty of opportunities to learn about the words and culture of Japan so make full use of it in your studies!

Spooktacular Japanese Words and Phrases for Talking About Halloween

You’re in luck: Since Halloween and its terms are rooted in Western culture, in Japanese they’re simply written in katakana. But remember, your audience may not have any clue about Halloween, so brush up on ways to describe these phrases, terms, and concepts:

ハロウィーンは、１０月３１日に行われます。
はろうぃーんは、じゅうがつさんじゅういちにちにおこなわれます。
Halloween occurs on October 31.

ジャック・オー・ランタンは、くり抜いたカボチャの中にライト（ろうそく）を入れて作った物です。
じゃっく・おー・らんたんは、くりぬいたかぼちゃのなかにらいと（ろうそく）をいれてつくったものです。
Jack-o-Lanterns are pumpkins that are carved with a light (candle) placed in them.

トリック・オア・トリートで、子供達は仮装して家々を訪ね、お菓子をもらいます。
とりっく・おあ・とりーとで、こどもたちはかそうしていえいえをたずね、おかしをもらいます。
Trick-or-treat is when children dress up and go door to door for candy.

子供達が「トリック・オア・トリート」/「悪戯か、お菓子か」と聞いて、もしお菓子がもらえなかったら悪戯をします。
こどもたちが「とりっく・おあ・とりーと」/「いたずらか、おかしか」ときいて、もしおかしがもらえなかったらいたずらをします。
When children say “Trick-or-treat” they are asking for candy, and if they don’t get it, they will play a trick on you.

大人はボウルの中にお菓子を入れて準備し、トリック・オア・トリートをする子供達に与えます。
おとなはぼうるのなかにおかしをいれてじゅんびし、とりっく・おあ・とりーとをするこどもたちにあたえます。
Adults prepare bowls of candy to hand out to children who Trick-or-treat.

ハロウィーンで子供達を脅かすための言葉は「ブー！」です。
はろうぃーんでこどもたちをおどかすためのことばは「ぶー！」です。
The word used to scare children on Halloween is “Boo!”*

*“Boo!” is not a word that works in Japanese as a scary word since it’s the sound that pigs make. The word used to scare people in Japan is「わ！」Incidentally, it is also used when scaring people to stop them from hiccuping.

大人と子供のためのハロウィーンパーティーが家で行われます。
おとなとこどものためのはろうぃーんぱーてぃーがいえでおこなわれます。

Some examples of costumes are: コスチューム・仮装の例は (こすちゅーむ/かそうのれいは)：

魔女・ウイザード (まじょ/ウィザード) — Witch/Wizard

バンパイア・吸血鬼 (ばんぱいあ・きゅうけつき) — Vampire

ミイラ (みいら) — Mummy

ゾンビ (ぞんび) — Zombie

ゴースト・幽霊 (ごーすと・ゆうれい) — Ghost

コウモリ (こうもり) — Bat

デビル・悪魔 (でびる・あくま) — Devil

黒猫 (くろねこ) — Black Cat

海賊 (かいぞく) — Pirate

ナース・看護師 (なーす・かんごし) — Nurse

*ピエロ (ぴえろ) — Clown
*You may need to explain why clowns are creepy, 気味悪い (きみわるい).

While Japan may not yet have embraced all the North American Halloween traditions, they certainly have their own concepts for creepy crawlies and phrases to evoke fear. And anyone can be scared—a scream is pretty universal. Here are some ways to talk about things that go bump in the night:

お化け屋敷に、怖がりに行こう！
おばけやしきに、こわがりにいこう！
Let’s go to a haunted House to be scared!:

怪談/怖いお化けの話を知っていますか？
かいだん/こわいおばけのはなしをしっていますか？
Do you know any scary ghost stories?:

蜘蛛の巣に注意して！
くものすにちゅういして！
Careful of those cobwebs (spider webs)!

何のアニメキャラクターの仮装をしますか？
なんのあにめきゃらくたーのかそうをしますか？
What anime character would you dress up as?

あなたのコスチュームは何/誰ですか？
あなたのこすちゅーむはなん/だれですか？
What/Who is your costume?:

血を見たら気絶しますか？
ちをみたらきぜつしますか？
Will you faint at the sight of blood?

その墓地は不気味です！
そのぼちはぶきみです！
That graveyard is spooky!

怖がれ！
こわがれ！
Be afraid!

びっくりした！
I was surprised!

ぎょっとした！
I was startled!

何が怖いですか？
なにがこわいですか？
What scares you?

脅かせないで！
おどろかせないで！
Don’t scare me!

Head coverings/masks examples: 被り物/お面の例 (かぶりもの/おめんのれい):

虫 (むし) — Bug

フランケンシュタイン (ふらんけんしゅたいん) — Frankenstein

骸骨 (がいこつ) — Skeleton

狼男 (おおかみおとこ) — Werewolf

モンスター (もんすたー) — Monster

Okay, just a few tidbits left. When you scream in English, it’s written out as “Ah!”, but in Japanese it’s「ギャー！(ぎゃー！)」or「キャー！(きゃー！)」

In Japanese the numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky. 4 has this meaning because its pronunciation is “し,” which is the same used for the word “death” (死). 9 has this because its pronunciation of “く” is the same word “agony” or “torture” (苦), also it has the same sound—“きゅう”—as someone being choked or a rope tightened. Repeating the sound for 9 twice also means “emergency” (救急/きゅうきゅう) .

Hopefully you won’t have any Halloween-related emergencies this year, and with the suggestions above you should be covered for talking about Halloween in Japanese. At the very least dress up, take a picture, and post it online with a caption in Japanese using some of the key words from above.

And if you’re too spooked to leave the couch, there’s always the option of watching scary movies. Disclaimer: You’re responsible if after watching these movies you’re too scared to get out from underneath that blanket…that will do nothing for you if ghosts attack!

Keep Practicing with 17 Scary Japanese Movies and Movie Series

Japan has its own fair share of scary stories and movies—some made in Japan, some imported and translated. Some are based on manga series. Curl up and watch some of these bloody, scary, death-related movies (映画/えいが) in Japanese. Or, if you can’t stand seeing the full movies, watch a clip or trailer online.

リングシリーズ (りんぐしりーず) — “The Ring” Series

着信アリシリーズ (ちゃくしんありしりーず) — “One Missed Call” Series

呪怨シリーズ (じゅおんしりーず) — “The Grudge” Series

仄暗い水の底から (ほのぐらいみずのそこから) — “Dark Water”

感染 (かんせん) — “Infection”

輪廻 (りんね) — “Reincarnation”

富江 (とみえ) — “Tomie”

死国 (しこく) — “Death Country”

稲川淳二シリーズ (いながわじゅんじしりーず) — “Inagawa Junji” Series

黒い家 (くろいいえ) — “Black House”

オールド・ボーイ (おーるど・ぼーい) — “Oldboy”

予言 (よげん) — “Premonition”

ハロウィーン (はろうぃーん) — “Halloween”

１３日の金曜日 (じゅうさんにちのきんようび) — “Friday the 13th^“

サイコ (さいこ) — “Psycho”

バトル・ロワイヤル (ばとる・ろわいやる) — “Battle Royale”

おくりびと — “Departures”

Won’t give the plotlines away for the movies up above, since there are synopsis’ available. If these movies aren’t enough, here are some descriptive terms you’ll need if you want to do your own search:

ホラー (ほらー) — Horror

ゴア/流血 (ごあ/りゅうけつ) — Gore

サスペンス (さすぺんす) — Suspense

ブギーマン (ぶぎーまん) — Boogeyman

精神病質者 (せいしんびょうしつしゃ) — Psychopath

サイコスリラー (さいこすりらー) — Psychological Thriller

Enjoy the Japanese Halloween fun by seeing if you can be scared by Japanese movies. But make sure this Halloween doesn’t leave you too spooked to learn and practice.

If you’re tempted to slack off, beware: I’ve heard a legend of a Japanese student that didn’t study at all in the month of October, and slowly their mind melted until they couldn’t learn anything… and they became a faceless zombie.