Supernatural Halloween wasn’t the only party that we hosted last Saturday, we also hosted our free, outdoor party in the park, The TV Tower of Terror.
The original concept for this party was a very simple one. October of 2020 was odd, with the Japanese government unable to make up its mind about whether to lift restrictions or to double down on them. COVID numbers would drop, restrictions would be lifted, numbers would rise again, restrictions would be reimplemented… Event organisers were understandably frustrated. It was almost impossible to plan anything with any kind of lead time, because the situation could change in a matter of days.
That said, Halloween is my favourite time of year, and I wasn’t going to go quietly into the night. If I hosted a party in a wide open public space outdoors, without any planning or preparation, what’s the worst that could happen?
So I put up a few ads, and around 50 people showed up to a little Halloween party in the park.
It was a nice, chill little evening. That night soon evolved into something completely different, but that’s a whole other story 🙄 Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime over a beer. Or ten.
Anyway, so I decided to host the same thing again in 2021 with the same premise, as things had improved, but we still weren’t post-COVID quite yet. The Tower of Terror turned out to be the biggest Halloween party in the city, with over 300 guests joining us to celebrate Halloween in Hisaya Odori Park.
And this year, the event was even bigger! Man, it’s hard to say how many of you actually came out this year but comparing this group shot to last years, I’d say there was a bunch more of you! My personal favourite costumes? Chris Ollier and baby Cayden’s pint-sized DJ costume was adorable and oh so creative. I loved the spectacle of that QAnon Shaman costume with the huge US flag, and that tall dude in the plague doctor costume was pretty intimidating. To be honest, I wish I’d had a bit more time to get around and say hi to everyone, but I had my hands full selling tickets to Supernatural.
Like a malevolent blob of man-eating goo, this event seems to be taking on a life of its own, growing larger and stronger every year that it resurfaces. I look forward to the day that it grows to such a monstrous scale that it swallows up the entire city of Nagoya 🙂
Both Tokyo and Osaka have their iconic Halloween street parties. I hope that someday, The TV Tower of Terror (along with our other Halloween parties, Supernatural and HallowFest) can make Nagoya a serious contender when people ask “which Japanese city does Halloween the best?”
Thanks to you guys for the effort that you put into your costumes and the incredible positive energy that permeated the entire night of the 29th. Also thanks to Jim for his excellent photos as always.
I’ll see you all next year at The TV Tower of Terror 2023!
– Matthew
