Japan: Why is Halloween not popular in Japan? · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

id:nakakzs writes about the lack of interest in Halloween among Japanese people [ja] compared to other imported holidays such as Christmas and Valentine's Day, noting that many people only know that Halloween takes place “sometime in autumn”. id:nakakzs traces the lack of popularity to a number of factors: bad timing (right after late summer festivals), the use of pumpkins as decoration is seen as a waste, resemblance to the Bon Festival which evokes the image of “death”, and a lack of a culture of door-to-door canvasing.