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:

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
    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
    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
    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
    Rat.
  • karasu
    Crow.
  • fukurou
    Owl.
  • kumo 蜘蛛
    Spider.
  • kaeru
    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
    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
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.

miira ミイラ
Mummy.

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.ミイラMummy.怪人Mysterious person. (often wearing mask, etc.)

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