November

Before November Was November

The Romans never meant for November to be the eleventh month. The name comes from novem, Latin for "nine," a leftover from a time when the Roman year began in March and ran only ten months. Count forward from the spring, and November lands exactly where its name says it should.

Then came January and February, added to the calendar and eventually moved to the front of the year. 

Every month after them slipped two places, but the old names stayed. Somewhere in our calendar, the ancient Roman year is still quietly counting.

We love that. A month carrying a memory of an older way of keeping time.

And November, for the Romans, was a month of thresholds. On the eighth, the mundus was opened, a ritual pit understood as a doorway to the underworld, left uncovered on only a few days of the year. 

On those days, the line between the living and the dead was said to grow thin. 

If that sounds familiar after Samhain, you're not imagining it. 

Different people, different gods, the same instinct: as the light fades and the fields go quiet, we turn toward our ancestors.

Then, on the thirteenth, the mood shifts. The Epulum Jovis was a sacred banquet where the gods were honored as guests at the table, with food laid out for them and shared among the living. 

After the doorway to the dead, a feast. After the dark, a meal.

That pairing feels right for this month: remembering the dead, and then setting a table.

This November, we will be exploring both.

Happy Samhain/Halloween

 

Samhain and Halloween

Halloween in Japan

Over the past ten years, Japan has shown more interest in Halloween, with all the scenery, visuals and costumes that you'll see in the video below.

Trick or treating isn't big in Japan, but the appeal of Halloween in Japan is the fun and costumes, so the holiday ends up being mostly for adults who want to dress-up. Costume parties become a focus for many establishments or in private homes.

Halloween Activities in Japan 

Halloween celebrations are often held in September and October. Tokyo, Osaka, and Kanagawa are the most popular destinations for costumed fun, but more cities across the country are embracing the holiday each year.

Events usually take place in shopping malls and amusement parks and include street parties, parades, flash mobs, zombie runs, and costume parties at bars. However, the Japanese celebrate their spooky season in August, which is when they usually enjoy telling ghost stories and visiting haunted attractions.

Theme parks around Japan bring in some of the biggest crowds for Halloween thanks to their many diverse events:

• Tokyo Disneyland: Events include a massive parade with more than 100 floats and performers, haunted attractions and performances, and dance parties with ghosts and goblins. At sundown, the parks' many characters transform into ghostly versions of themselves to haunt the streets.
• Universal Studios Japan: Halloween Horror Nights features haunted houses and other scary activities, including a special holiday-themed movie ride. Like at Disneyland, characters at Universal will transform at sundown.
• Shibuya Hikarie Retail Complex: The International Costume Contest invites guests to compete in a variety of categories including scariest costume and best cosplay. 

• Sanrio Puroland: The costumed characters at this indoor theme park known for its Hello Kitty-themed area will transform into spooky ghosts and goblins at night. You can also expect to find themed parties and celebrations throughout the month.