What's in Store for This Year? Young People Obsessed with Halloween: The Background and What Lies Ahead

Halloween has become firmly established in Japan in recent years.
Beyond its previous popularity as a family-oriented event, the fervor among young people is rapidly increasing, and the sight of them walking the streets in cosplay has become a kind of social phenomenon. Why are young people so captivated by Halloween? And what developments can we expect this year?
Associate Professor Kensuke Suzuki from Kwansei Gakuin University's Faculty of Sociology, who studies youth behavior, and Rei Nagi from Wakamon engaged in a discussion.

Why Young People Crave Authenticity

Nagi: Among young people, the popularity and spread of SNS like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram continues. DENTSU SOKEN INC.'s " Understanding Young People Survey 2015 " from this April also showed that young people often have multiple Twitter accounts, using different ones for different social groups.
At the same time, real-world events like Halloween have gained significant momentum in recent years. What factors might be driving this growing real-world orientation among young people?

Suzuki: I don't think young people are tired of online communication centered around SNS. Rather, I believe they are becoming more real-world oriented while still using SNS as a foundation. This is because the way young people build relationships today is "subtractive." In the past, relationships were "additive" – you'd become friends first, then exchange contact information. Now, you start by asking for contact details via LINE or similar apps, and then decide whether you really want to become friends based on that.
Having multiple Twitter accounts also serves to screen relationships based on activity areas and hobbies.

Real-life events are the most convenient for this "subtractive" relationship building. Inviting someone to "hang out together" is ideal for narrowing down relationships. It's not that they're abandoning the internet for real-life events; it's a phenomenon occurring on top of their already networked relationships.

Nagi: What's even more interesting about young people's relationships is how they unconsciously switch partners based on activity type – "this friend is for drinking at home," "this friend is for Halloween."
In the past, you shared all kinds of fun with close friends, but now you choose different people for different things, right?

Suzuki: This is likely also influenced by digitalized relationships. On social media, you often get reactions from people other than your intended audience, leading to frequent relationship overlap. Young people keenly feel the hassle of this.
That's precisely why they don't want to bring someone who doesn't fit the occasion—like someone whose personality clashes with the theme—to Halloween.
It's also a way of being considerate to avoid genre mismatches.

The Background of Halloween Fever and This Year's Predictions

Nagi: Amidst this, young people's enthusiasm for Halloween is remarkable. It started gaining traction a few years ago, becoming a massive event with tens of thousands participating in areas like Roppongi and Shibuya.
Why are young people so enthusiastic about it?

Suzuki: The current Halloween trend has taken off over the past five years or so. During this period, smartphones and social media became widespread.
This gave Halloween three major values as a "cosplay event": Cosplayers "gather in one place," friends "enjoy taking selfies together," and when they spot someone with a great costume, they ask to take their photo, fostering "communication."
Smartphones and SNS made this possible. I believe that's what fueled the Halloween craze.

Nagi: Considering that trend, what do you think will happen with Halloween this year?

Suzuki: Along with the "subtraction" concept mentioned earlier, young people today seek to confirm their relationships with friends. Even when together, they can interact with other friends via SNS, so being together alone doesn't prove "close friendship."
So they want to create situations where they "do something together exclusively." I call this "exclusivity." For example, young people deliberately call friends just to have them all to themselves.

In that sense, Halloween might shift from being a large gathering of people trying to look like they have fulfilling lives to becoming an opportunity to prove "exclusive time with friends." Even if it's a large-scale event, it could involve just two or three truly close friends participating and enjoying it together.
Another thought I have is what young people do after heading out into the streets in costume. Beyond just taking selfies in costume, I think setting some kind of goal or story on top of that would make it even more exciting.

Nagi: Speaking of which, events like the Halloween Run (a marathon event themed around Halloween where participants dress up) are happening this year, right? I think that adds the goal of "running" on top of the cosplay.

Suzuki: Alongside that, it would be great to see more casual, accessible events. For example, a project where professional photographers take SNS-ready photos in front of famous shops. Adding that kind of goal or story would probably make young people happy.