Halloween on the Yamanote

[jljzen99]

I asked this question here last year, but I don't remember the answer. And I'm wondering if it has changed. I did a web search on Google, but could only find outdated information. One article coming from Christoph Neumann, stated that this event was cancelled quite some time ago. Is it an urban legend or not?

So...again, here we go.

Is there a party on one car on one train on the Yamanote?
Yes? Great.
No? Want to start one?

[gomichild]

I think I went on the last one a few years back. It got too crazy - not the people dressed up in costume on the train but the dozens of police officers on every platform around the Yamanote line. Word went around that there was going to be trouble at Shinagawa so many of us got off at Shinbashi and dispersed to various subway lines.

It was kind of funny and most of the other passengers were amused and laughing - but you always get a few bad apples...

So it's not an urban legend. There used to be a "gathering" of people dressed up who would get on the Yamanote line on Halloween, but no more.

[kamome]

That sounds pretty cool. Imagine everyone's surprise when I arrive wearing a Hazmat suit, goggles, and rubber gloves a la "Outbreak" and announce that there may have been another Sarin gas attack on the Yamanote (and I do have such an outfit).

[djgizmoe]

Are you sure you aren't thinking about the Osaka Loop Line Halloween Party?

http://thomas.blog-city.com/read/333582.htm

[Taro Toporific]

Are you sure you aren't thinking about the Osaka Loop Line Halloween Party?

http://thomas.blog-city.com/read/333582.htm

Pictures??? Pictures!!!! We want pictures!

Train hijack-O-lantern as costumed carousers occupy Osaka line
OSAKA Mainichi Oct 31-- About 450 costumed partygoers "occupied" as many as three carriages on a JR Kanjo Line train late Saturday night, preventing others from riding for about two hours, West Japan Railway Co. ...
One of the passengers on the train said the costumed passengers would alight at each station and dance around on the platform before getting on the train again. The Halloween "hijacking" of Osaka Loop Line trains has continued for about the past five years.

[FG Lurker]

I think it's been going on for at least 10 years actually... Maybe longer, but I wasn't here much before that.

[Greji]

I think I went on the last one a few years back. It got too crazy - not the people dressed up in costume on the train but the dozens of police officers on every platform around the Yamanote line. Word went around that there was going to be trouble at Shinagawa so many of us got off at Shinbashi and dispersed to various subway lines.

It was kind of funny and most of the other passengers were amused and laughing - but you always get a few bad apples...

So it's not an urban legend. There used to be a "gathering" of people dressed up who would get on the Yamanote line on Halloween, but no more.

GC is right it has been un-holloweened! A lot of the people would be drinking before, during and after the event (I've heard FG's do such a thing) and there were a lot of ugly incidents and in this case the bad apples prevailed. The TMPD began making announcements in the ejishinbun's that this gathering/event would no longer be allowed. They even referred to it as an unofficial annual event, but because of the problems, they were putting the foot down and they would not allow people so dressed on to trains and failure to comply would lead to arrest.

Never made one, although I had a lot of friends that did and in defense of the police, if just a small portion of the stories I heard about stunts pulled by the "bad apples" are true, the police were probably justified in stopping it. It is a shame, because good fun was always had by the rest of FG's present. It is a further shame that some people can drink, have a great time getting pissed and not cause a public incident and on the other hand one or two can have a single pint and ruin the whole party for everyone else.

[kamome]

What sort of incidents occurred that were bad enough to get the J-police involved? Details please.

[FG Lurker]

What sort of incidents occurred that were bad enough to get the J-police involved? Details please.

I don't know about what happened in Tokyo, but in Osaka partiers were pissing off passengers, doing things like squirting them with water guns, that sorta thing. People were climbing up into the luggage racks, hanging from the hand straps, and generally causing chaos. I can imagine some drunk idiot in a luggage rack puking on everyone seated under him.....

In Osaka JR took a bit of a different tack. There are now one or two carriages set aside for the party. One trip around the loop is allowed. I guess it isn't as much fun as the free-for-all of years past, but better than nothing at all.

[drpepper]

I have gone to the loop line halloween party for about 8 years and I know it was happening at least a few years before that but I didn't go to those. Loads of fun and good for the gaijins to let off some steam. This last Saturdays ride was uneventful unlike last year where there was a little scuffle but no big deal really. If ya wanna go come on down, we won't discriminate just cause you are from Tokyo

[dimwit]

The only time I went to an Osaka loop line party was 11 years ago when I was much younger, much more single, a fob to Japan and at the time far less sober. The police, as I vaguely recall, were somewhat confused by the presence of so many drunk gaijin and did nothing. And yes, there was a huge amount of stupid and potentially dangerous behavoir.

Now that I have a kid, I am more interested in organizing trick or treat in my local community. This is the fourth year we have done it and it was a great success. We had about 40-50 kids going door to door.

[Taro Toporific]

... trick or treat in my local community. This is the fourth year we have done it and it was a great success. We had about 40-50 kids going door to door.

What did you do to "educate" the neigborhood on why/how and what to give or the kids?

Or did you mark the doors the households who were not "clued in"?

[aquamarine]

Oh, and happy halloween from Canada.

[dimwit]

... trick or treat in my local community. This is the fourth year we have done it and it was a great success. We had about 40-50 kids going door to door.

What did you do to "educate" the neigborhood on why/how and what to give or the kids?

Or did you mark the doors the households who were not "clued in"?

We usually leave it up to the neighbors as to what they give, althought most are clued into Halloween through television and the candy they sell at the store. We generally mark the houses you can go to by having a pumpkin (real or fake) outside the door (the Pumpkin Festival in Toon town is a great source of pumpkins and we took about 6 back from the festival this year). The neighbors can opt in or out if they wish but most young people with children willingly join in.

[Taro Toporific]

The "Beauty" and the Beast at his year's Halloween celebration at Tokyo Disneyland. Flickr Slideshow Link


Via Boing Boing: Wednesday, November 2, 2005

[Taro Toporific]

Tokyo's Halloween Party Train Rides Again
The legend of the Yamanote Line comes to life again
2005-11-05 19:39
©2005 OhmyNews by David Michael Weber
"O friend and companion of night, thou who rejoicest in the baying of dogs and spilt blood, who wanderest in the midst of shades among the tombs, who longest for blood and bringest terror to mortals, Gorgo, Mormo, thousand-faced moon, look favourably on our sacrifices!" - HP Lovecraft

On a particular Saturday night in late October at a particular station in the heart of Tokyo, I found myself standing on the platform waiting for a particular train with a Halloween costume in my bag and a bottle of Jack Daniels in my back pocket. Around me small clumps of gaijins (foreigners) and Japanese, some in costume, some not, stood conspicuously inconspicuous on the platform of the northbound Yamanote Line. We were all there waiting for the same train. Some of us were seasoned veterans, while others were newbies waiting for proof of a Tokyo urban legend -- the Yamanote Halloween Train....more....
A Masked Wrestler Enjoys a Drink on the Yamanote
©2005 D.Weber

Partiers Welcoming Commuters (.MOV)
A Cowboy Leads the Chant (.MOV)
A View of the Party (.MOV)

[IkemenTommy]

JR East rushes to fix 'trouble spots'

East Japan Railway Co. made emergency repairs to 28 potential trouble spots along its lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, after a problem with slack wires shut down the busy Yamanote Line for about five hours Monday, JR East officials said.

[kamome]

Tokyo's Halloween Party Train Rides Again
The legend of the Yamanote Line comes to life again
[url=http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=257057&rel_no=1]2005-11-05 19:39

This was a great read. Thanks for the link, Taro!

[Taro Toporific]

Tokyo's Halloween Party Train Rides Again
The legend of the Yamanote Line comes to life again
2005-11-05 19:39

This was a great read.

And here is a photo of the zombie couple who won this year's Fancy Dress Contest on the Yamamote.

[Taro Toporific]

And here is a photo of the zombie couple who won this year's Fancy Dress Contest on the Yamamote.

The Dallas Morning News, Mon, Nov. 14, 2005
KYOTO, Japan ---At first blush, they seem an odd couple ....Stopping in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday to refuel on his way to Japan, Bush addressed U.S. forces gathered in a hangar at Elmendorf Air Force Base...

[Bucky]

Oh behave!

MPD, JR boost security to stop Halloween havoc

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Security was tightened on Tokyo's train network Friday in a bid to prevent foreign merrymakers causing mayhem in trains and stations during Halloween celebrations.
Last year, about 300 costumed foreigners gathered at JR Shinjuku and other stations after the event was advertised online.
Many of the revelers were drunk, and some services were delayed after they removed fluorescent lights on trains and caused other damage.
East Japan Railway Co. put up warning posters at all 29 stations on the Yamanote Line and boosted its security personnel with help from the Metropolitan Police Department's railway police unit.

[Mike Oxlong]

[IkemenTommy]

It's that time of the year and Halloween falls on the Saturday this time! With the cops getting slightly smarter and on par with the rest of the world, and with fewer gaijins than ever before, is it still happening? Anyone know the low down?

[Mulboyne]

One intriguing factor this year is the Bledisloe Cup Match between Australia and New Zealand which is being held at the National Stadium on Saturday. The match kicks off at 5:30pm and will probably end at around 7:30pm so there are likely to be some boisterous groups of white foreigners using public transport in Tokyo - probably with alcohol - either side of those times. As far as the Yamanote is concerned, some might go via Shibuya or Shinjuku which could prove interesting.

[IkemenTommy]

The bloody hooligans will be out

[cujojpn]

I thought TMPD were on top of it this year, and it wasn't going to happen.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Partiers Welcoming Commuters (.MOV)
A Cowboy Leads the Chant (.MOV)
A View of the Party (.MOV)

These videos are FAKE! Its obvious. Probably all done in some underground Gaijin studio, no doubt. So its all still an urban legend. And, also, I think that all Gaijin in Japan who make videos and put them on the internet should be arrested and deported cause they're like terrorists in a way you know. They're worse, they're wannabe terrorists you know. Kind of like modern-day "punk" rockers you know? I think the mayor of Tokyo should start cracking down on any Gaijin carrying any video cameras from now on. I love the mayor. I love My City. I know I was like that before, but now I see The Light!

It's fun reading Rob Pongi's pre-You Tube posts!

[Iraira]

Happy Devil's Night, Halloween, and Dios de los Muertos

[Bucky]

Death to gaijins in costume via 2channel:

Gaijin haloweeners:
Now we ceclare we form assassination squad..to kill unscruplous costumed gaijins
who disdainfully ride on our crowded trains and do some absurdity

[2triky]

Happy Devil's Night, Halloween, and Dios de los Muertos

Good show, man.