{"id":33677,"date":"2023-11-01T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=33677"},"modified":"2023-11-03T06:42:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T06:42:34","slug":"army-families-japanese-visitors-flock-to-camp-zama-sfha-for-halloween-trick-or-treating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=33677","title":{"rendered":"Army families, Japanese visitors flock to Camp Zama, SFHA for Halloween trick-or-treating"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n Patrice Williams, left, greets 10-year-old Misa (background right) and 13-year-old Natsumi Ueki (foreground right) at her door as they each take a piece of candy during trick-or-treating held Oct. 31 on Camp Zama, Japan. Trick-or-treating was also held on Sagamihara Family Housing Area.
\n (Photo Credit: Dustin Perry, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 Thousands of costumed revelers, many of them Japanese visitors, celebrated Halloween by going door-to-door in the neighborhoods here and at Sagamihara Family Housing Area in search of hopefully more treats than tricks.<\/p>\n

The festivities began at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, just as evening fell, and continued for two hours. Many housing residents decked out their yards, doorways and windows with all manner of lights, decorations, props, fog machines and piped-in music and sound effects to heighten the spooky atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Clusters of families and friend groups \u2014 some American, some Japanese, and some a combination of both \u2014 walked up eagerly to the houses handing out candy. Though the host-nation visitors conversed largely in their native language, even the youngest among them were able to let out the familiar plea of \u201cTrick or treat!\u201d when greeted at the door.<\/p>\n

The traditional American way of celebrating Halloween has gradually grown in popularity in Japan in the last two decades. Data from the Directorate of Emergency Services showed a 62% increase in guest passes issued, an 18% increase in vehicle traffic, and a 23% increase in pedestrian traffic for this year\u2019s holiday compared to 2022.<\/p>\n

Sanae Taniguchi thinks it is wonderful that the U.S. Army community welcomes Japanese visitors for trick-or-treating and said she and her family look forward to it every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity \u2014 not only for children, but also for adults \u2014 to experience a part of American culture, and I hope it continues into the future,\u201d Taniguchi said. \u201cI\u2019d like more Japanese to be able to experience Halloween and enjoy it with their children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Army
\n <\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n 1 \/ 2<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n A group of costumed trick-or-treaters poses for a photo during Halloween festivities Oct. 31 on Sagamihara Family Housing Area, Japan. Trick-or-treating was also held on Camp Zama.
\n (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Army
\n <\/a>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n 2 \/ 2<\/span>
\n
\n Show Caption +<\/span>
\n Hide Caption \u2013<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Abe Shiori, 6, poses in her bunny costume during trick-or-treating held Oct. 31 on Camp Zama, Japan. Trick-or-treating was also held on Sagamihara Family Housing Area.
\n (Photo Credit: Dustin Perry, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Taniguchi\u2019s daughter, Rio, 12, estimated that she\u2019s come to SFHA for Halloween four or five times since she was a young child, and was joined this year by a few of her friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am dressed up as a cat today because I thought it was very Halloween-like and cute,\u201d Rio said. \u201cI enjoyed receiving a lot of candies and looking at the houses that were decorated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keiko Kanematsu and her two daughters, who came at the invitation of a friend, were first-time visitors at SFHA for Halloween this year. They were all excited to participate, and the experience exceeded their expectations, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was impressed with the way the houses were decorated and by the number of people who were in costumes,\u201d Kanematsu said. \u201cIt was very nice to have an opportunity to interact with Americans and to share in a good time with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kanematsu\u2019s 8-year-old daughter, Yui, came dressed as Elsa from the animated film \u201cFrozen\u201d and said she had a great time during her first trick-or-treating experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a lot of candy and had so much fun,\u201d Yui said. \u201cI want to come here again in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Brown, assigned to U.S. Army Japan G3, brought his family from their off-base residence onto Camp Zama for the festivities. Opening U.S. Army installations to Japanese visitors for events like Halloween helps to strengthen the relationship between both, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think giving the Japanese the opportunity to experience American cultural events is important for them,\u201d Brown said, \u201cand [the fact that] they embrace American culture and allow us to share it with them is an awesome experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s son, Rey, dressed in an inflatable T. rex costume, echoed his dad\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea to show our American culture to the Japanese [visitors],\u201d said Rey, 12. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be able to feel like we\u2019re celebrating Halloween in America.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrice Williams, left, greets 10-year-old Misa (background right) and 13-year-old Natsumi Ueki (foreground right) at her door as they each take a piece of candy during trick-or-treating held Oct. 31 on Camp Zama, Japan. Trick-or-treating was also held on Sagamihara Family Housing Area. (Photo Credit: Dustin Perry, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs) VIEW ORIGINAL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33679,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33683,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33677\/revisions\/33683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}