Pumpkinery

Halloween frolics! First stop was Miss Y's apaato in Yokogawa for a small gathering of maybe seven people, including friends the host Miss Y (who wore a turbanned poo on her head, ala The Mole in the children's classic "The Story of the Mole Who Knew It Was None of his Business", further confirming my suspicions of the smutty Japanese sense of humour: her entire costume was a mere poo), Crazy Aya (as a tattooed Piratess of the Caribbean) and Maharaja M (as himself, a Bollywood movie star). I donned a thrown-together Kiki the Witch ensemble with Jiji-in-a-cage prop. Halloween fare included cute Japanese confectionary called Kinoko no Yama ("mountain mushrooms"), cheesy snacks in the shapes of whales, squid, pufferfish and sunfish and other odd sea creatures, and Ghostie Brioche. I adore the chocolate mushrooms, with stalks of biscuit and caps of pure chocolate - how delish! The evening was beautifully rounded off when Miss Y discarded her poo-hat and whipped out a massive bit of wood - otherwise known as a koto, or Japanese harp. Its tremuluous, mysterious twangings were evocative of Japanese court life and its powder-white kimomo-clad beauties.

Then we taxi'd to music hall, Chinatown, in the neon labyrinth of Nagarakawa's nightlife district for the yearly Halloween Ball. There I met up with fellow scholar Mr J (another dastardly pirate with mobile moustache and migratory beard!) and the lovely Miss K (PlayBunny) for an evening of dancing, drinking, and the artful dodge on the dancefloor to (i) avoid treading on a devil's tail (ii) prevent unravelling a lav-papered mummy or (iii) escape from a swaggering, flirtatious superhero clad only in red Y-fronts. The place was teeming with gaijin and locals alike. To my surprise, while dancing with a troupe of French maids, a pimp, and someone who'd come dressed as a Nova teacher (and, ye Gods, so he was!), I was accosted by a young man in a dress, leopard skin heels and a Louis Vuitton bag. "Hello Ember Sensei!" he squealed, "I am your student!!!!! Please meet my wife". And so the young man introduced me to a nurse in a white pvc outfit, and then stole away on the dancefloor to the tune of dark dancehall fave "Sex Dwarf". Well, cover me in eggs and flour and bake me for fourteen minutes!

In further Halloween shenanigans, yesterday I esconced myself in La Starbucks and Three Windmills cafe (as my former landlady passed on several gift vouchers - how lovely! As all Nippon visitors know, I'm usually a Tully's gal) so I savoured a Pumpkin Latte over my thrilling read of Maisie Dobbs. And so it was that I was rendered completely batty for the rest of the day! My eyes roved over every object in front of me, bright colours burst into my vision like a spangle of stars, my conversation rattled like machine gunfire so much so that the little nippers in my children's class gave each other worried looks and edged towards the classroom exit. I swear there is something other than pumpkin in that festive Halloween latte!