Happy Halloween!

They don't really do Halloween here. No Trick or Treating, no parties (unless you're an odd foreigner who likes that kind of thing..) and no costumes. They wear costumes enough otherwise anyway here; they don't need a special holiday. Imagine my surprise when I walk by the local KFC/Pizza Hut (yes, they're in Japan too!) and find this:


I was somewhat saddened and scared. I'm still hoping that they're just dressing him up for Halloween, and not the start of the Christmas season. They don't really do Christmas much here either, but the stores already have displays with fake fur trees and blinking lights, along with Christmas cards that contain more circuitry than my students' robots. Christmas season isn't until after Thanksgiving. They don't have Thanksgiving here (if you're wondering why not, remember why we celebrate it...) so I suppose the last international holiday before Christmas is Halloween, but come on people - two months? If I have to pass the Col. Sanders Santa every day on my way to work for the next two months...I don't even know what will happen. But I'm sure it won't be pretty.