Halloween 2020 is different—so let’s give it a classic Japanese twist!
While long-haired specters clad in white are the most Japanese of horror tropes, many of Japan’s ghostly tales come straight out of real life. If you’d like to scare yourself silly for this Halloween in Japan, but aren’t big on visiting a haunted house during a pandemic, why not try a good old fashioned kimodameshi?
Testing Your Liver
Kimodameshi (肝試し or きもだめし), literally means “testing your liver” and is a bravery challenge wherein you (alone or with friends) head into abandoned structures, parks, temples, shrines, and so on to prove your bravery. The goal is to “survive” your trip into this haunted location, although if Japanese pop culture is to be believed, this is also a great way to get yourself cursed. While more common in the summer months, and especially around Obon, the fall is the perfect time to go for long walks outdoors, and it’s less likely to be crowded with other thrill-seekers too.
IMT is home to a vast collection of samples and specimens that were once used for research by the University of Tokyo, and include giraffe and whale skeletons, ancient mummies, seashells, and more. Even the display cases used are historical pieces—one of the main tenets of the museum is Redesign+, which means giving these old items and artifacts a new purpose now that they are no longer suitable for scholarly research.
Halloween in Japan has always been a little different to the West, but it will be especially so in 2020. Why not make the most of your social distance time to plan a ghostly tour of your own design?
