Halloween Translated to Japanese
First, let's start with the word Halloween itself. This is English name for a custom, so there's no Japanese word for it. Instead, the word "Halloween" gets imported into Japanese. This means it's pronounced differently and is written with- harowin ハロウィン
Halloween. - harowiin ハロウィーン
Hallowe'en. - harowin paatyi ハロウィン・パーティ
Halloween party. - harowin ebento ハロウィン・イベント
Halloween event.
Some others Halloween traditions with English names also get the same treatment, like trick-or-treat and jack-o'-lantern.
Just to be clear: Halloween in Japan occurs in the same date as it does everywhere else in the world:
- jyuu-gatsu san-jyuu-ichi-nichi 10月31日
Day 31 of Month 10 (October)
Trick-or-treat
Trick-or-treating is the custom of children going around knocking on people's doors and asking for candy. The phrase "trick-or-treat" means if you don't give candy you'll get a pranked.
- torikku oa toriito トリック・オア・トリート
Trick-or-treat. - okashi お菓子
Snacks. Sweets. Candies. - ame 飴
Candy. - choko チョコ
Chocolate. - itazura 悪戯
Mischief. Prank. - toiretto peepaa トイレットペーパー
Toilet paper.
(throwing this over people's houses is a well-known prank)
Pumpkins, Lanterns & Harvest
It seems Halloween was a medieval harvest festival with gods somewhat involved in it, hence the pumpkins.
- shuukaku 収穫
Harvest. (of a farm) - kakashi 案山子
Scarecrow. - kabocha 南瓜
panpukin パンプキン
Pumpkin. - kizamu 刻む
To carve - jakku oo rantan ジャック・オー・ランタン
Jack o' Lantern.
(pumpkin carved to look like a scary face, usually with lights inside) - kabocha no rantan カボチャのランタン
Pumpkin lantern.
Apple Eating Games
A game of eating apples floating on water without using hands is one of the Halloween customs. This is called different names in English.
- dakku appuru ダック・アップル
Duck apple. - appuru bobingu アップル・ボビング
Apple bobbing. - ringo kui sensou リンゴ食い競争
Apple-eating contest. - ringo 林檎
Apple.
Witch Words
Witches were allegedly women who used evil magic or something and were universally despised and hunted to death in medieval times but then after they were literally gone forever their concept was commercialized and turned out to be tremendously popular in the 21st century.
- majo 魔女
Witch. - majokko 魔女っ子
Girl-witch. Child witch. - majo no minarai 魔女の見習い
Witch apprentice.
(minarai is literally "see-learner")
- houki 箒
Broom. (the thing witches fly with) - majo no houki 魔女の箒
Witch's broom. - tobu 飛ぶ
To jump.
To fly. - toberu 飛べる
To be able to fly.
- boushi 帽子
Hat. - majo no boushi 魔女の帽子
Witch's hat. - tsue 杖
wando ワンド
Wand. - majo no tsue 魔女の杖
Witch's wand. - roobu ローブ
Robe. - majo no roobu 魔女のローブ
Witch's robe.
Magic, Curses, Spells & Fortune-telling
Magic, curses, spells, sorcery, witchcraft, fortune-telling, or whatever you call it have already been explained in detail in the post about magic in Japanese , but here are some words anyway:
- mahou 魔法
Magic. - majutsu 魔術
Sorcery. Witchcraft. Spell. - mahou-tsukai 魔法使い
Magic-user. - mahousho 魔法書
madousho 魔道書
Magic book. - maryoku 魔力
Magic power.
Sometimes called mana マナ.
- mahoujin 魔方陣
mahouen 魔法円
Magic square. (first)
Magic circle. (both) - hoshi-gata 星型
Star-shaped. - gobousei 五芒星
Five-point star. - pentoraguramu ペンタグラム
Pentagram.
- kakaru 掛かる
To have a spell "fall" on you. (among other things)
(also works for having toilet paper "fall" on houses) - tonaeru 唱える
To chant (a spell).
- noroi 呪い A curse.
- norou 呪う
To curse (someone) - norowareta 呪われた
Cursed.
- uranai 占い
Fortune-telling. - uranau 占う
To tell somebody's fortune.
- shoukan 召喚
Summoning. (demons, beasts, etc.) - shoukan suru 召喚する
To summon. - shoukanjuu 召喚獣
Summoned beast.
Witch Familiars
Names of animals commonly used by witches. If the animal you're looking for isn't in the list below, try the more complete list of names of animals in Japanese
- tsukaima 使い魔
Familiar. - kuroneko 黒猫
Black cat. - nezumi 鼠
Rat. - karasu 烏
Crow. - fukurou 梟
Owl. - kumo 蜘蛛
Spider. - kaeru 蛙
Frog. - koumori 蝙蝠
Bat. - yousei 妖精
fearii フェアリー
Fairy.
Wearing Scary Costumes
In Halloween there's a custom costume custom where people of all ages make or order costumes to wear.
- kasou 仮装
Costume. Disguise.
(written with the kanji for "temporary" and "attire") - kasou suru 仮装する
To wear a costume. To disguise yourself. - kasou paatyii 仮装パーティー
Costume party.
Disguising yourself with a costume is a thing, but it's not the same thing as:
- kosupure コスプレ
Cosplay. Costume play. Having fun dressing in a costume. - ishou 衣装
Garment. Clothing. (part of a costume.) - fuku 服
Clothes. (normal clothes) - kiru 着る
To wear. - kiteiru 着ている
To be wearing.
The practice of wearing costumes sometimes involves disguising yourself as the opposite gender.
- iseisou 異性装
Cross-dressing.
(literally written with the kanji for "different," "sex," "attire") - josou 女装
Cross-dressing. Wearing female clothing.
(literally "woman attire") - dansou 男装
Cross-dressing. Wearing male clothing.
(literally "man attire")
Originally it was about pretending to be an evil spirit, so the costumes were really scary. But then with horror films people started dressing up as popular horror film villains and popularized versions of monsters and creatures. Nowadays they dress up as stuff that's not even scary anymore.
- kowai 怖い
Scary. - osoroshii 恐ろしい
Dreadful. - kyoufu 恐怖
Fear. - kyoufu wo ataeru 恐怖を与える
To give fear. To instill fear.
List of Costumes & Creatures
Below is a list with names of costumes in Japanese and names of creatures in Japanese. It's in alphabetical order. It includes the scary monsters, a couple of movie characters, and some other stuff the came from TV or something.
Post a comment if you can't find the word you want.
A
tenshi 天使
enjeru エンジェル
Angel.
doubutsu 動物
Animal.
obake お化け
Apparition.
B
kuroneko 黒猫
Black cat.
banshii バンシー
Banshee.
koumori 蝙蝠
Bat.
battoman バットマン
Batman. (character)
C
kyattouuman キャットウーマン
Catwoman. (character, Batman)
D
daasu beidaa ダース・ベイダー
daasu veidaa ダース・ヴェイダー
daasu beedaa ダース・ベーダー
Darth Vader. (character, Star Wars)
shinigami 死神
Death. (literally "God of Death")
akuma 悪魔
Demon.
debiru デビル
Devil.
dorakyura ドラキュラ
Dracula. (character)
doragon ドラゴン
ryuu 竜
Dragon.
F
yousei 妖精
fearii フェアリー
Fairy.
furappa フラッパー
Flapper.
furankenshutain フランケンシュタイン
Frankenstein. (character)
furedyi kureegaa フレディ・クルーガー
Freddy Krueger (character, A Nightmare on Elm Street)
G
guuru グール
Ghoul.
yuurei 幽霊
Ghost. Phantom.
goburin ゴブリン
Goblin.
shinigami 死神
Grim Reaper.
H
haarei kuin ハーレイ・クインHarley Quinn. (character, Batman)
hippii ヒッピー
Hippie.
I
koakuma 小悪魔Imp.
J
jeison boohiizu ジェイソン・ボーヒーズJason Voorhees (character, Friday the 13th)
jookaa ジョーカー
Joker. (character, Batman)
M
meido メイドMaid.
ningyo 人魚
Mermaid.
miritarii ミリタリー
Military.
kaibutsu 怪物
monstaa モンスター
Monster.
kaijin 怪人
Mysterious person. (often wearing mask, etc.)
N
kangoshi 看護師
Nurse.
P
kaizoku 海賊
paireetsu パイレーツ
Pirate.
porisu ポリス
Police.
ohimesama お姫様
Princess.
shuujin 囚人
Prisoner.
panpukin パンプキン
kabocha 南瓜
Pumpkin.
R
robotto ロボットRobot
S
kakashi 案山子
Scarecrow.
gaikotsu 骸骨
Skeleton.
gunjin 軍人
Soldier.
supaidaaman スパイダーマン
Spiderman. (character)
U
andeddo アンデッド
Undead.
V
kyuuketsuki 吸血鬼Vampire.
W
weaurufu ウェアウルフwaaurufu ワーウルフ
Werewolf.
ookami-otoko 狼男
Werewolf. (male)
Wolf-man.
ookami-on'na おおかみおんな
Werewolf (female)
Wolf-woman.
ookami-ningen 狼人間
Werewolf (gender neutral)
Wolf-human.
jinrou 人狼
Werewolf (gender neutral)
Human-wolf.
majo 魔女
Witch.
majokko 魔女っ子
Witch-child. Girl-witch.
mahou-tsukai 魔法使い
Wizard. Sorcerer.
(literally "magic user")
Z
zombi ゾンビZombie
Seeing as it's almost Halloween, I figured I'd make a vocabulary list with common Halloween words in Japanese, including words for witches, magic, and names of creatures and costumes commonly seen in Halloween. (also some short descriptions of the Halloween practices since not all of us get to them)First, let's start with the word Halloween itself. This is English name for a custom, so there's no Japanese word for it. Instead, the word "Halloween" gets imported into Japanese. This means it's pronounced differently and is written with Japanese alphabet メイドMaid.人魚Mermaid.ミリタリーMilitary.怪物モンスターMonster.怪人Mysterious person. (often wearing mask, etc.)
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