Halloween in Tokyo: Exploring Error Room in Ikebukuro East Donki

Published on 2023-09-29

Spooky season is finally upon us!

Halloween has always been one of the most popular holidays of the year, especially in Tokyo. Many people love to go all-out by dressing up as iconic characters and celebrating by joining various parades and street parties.

For those of you who have plans to head out this Halloween but are starting to panic over what to wear, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. To help you properly prepare for this spooky season, we decided to check out everyone’s favourite discount store Don Quijote. Donki, for short, is renowned for its amazing selection of Halloween goods, selling everything from costumes to decorations.

This time, we headed to the Ikebukuro east branch, located just one minute away from Ikebukuro station. To our joy, we found that this specific store has set up its own special area on the fourth floor called ‘Error Room’, dedicated to everything Halloween-related.

Let us show you just some of the best products we found…

Dress Up As Whoever You Want To Be This Halloween!

For women, the most popular costumes tend to be maids, policewomen, or animals such as cats and rabbits. Although many of these costumes tend to be on the more revealing side, you can still find versions of the outfits which are more modest such as the Focus range. This range has been specifically designed for pairs of friends who want to match. For the reasonable price of ¥4990, you get two identical costumes included in the box.

If you did want something a little more revealing, we recommend looking at the Glowholic range!

Although there are slightly less options for men, there are still some great ones to choose from. You could opt for something classic like a vampire, a reaper or clown or pick something a bit more comical like a dalmatian or where’s Wally. Such costumes cost anywhere between ¥3980 to ¥4990.

Why not dress up as one of the most iconic characters in Japan, and go as Mario or Luigi. These costumes look pretty comfortable too so would be a good choice if you are planning to be out all night!

For ultimate comfort, you’ll want to definitely check out the adorable range of fluffy onesies on offer. You can find onesies of your favorite Sanrio characters like Kuromi and Pompompurin and Pokemon like Eevee and Snorlax. The good thing about picking one of these is that you are most likely going to wear it again after Halloween, especially to lounge around in.

If none of these outfits are taking your fancy, try checking out the generic range of costumes Donki stocks all year round. These tend to be more comical outfits, you will likely see many people wearing the bodysuit from the 金身タイツ as this is always a popular choice for Halloween.

Before buying your costume, make sure that you understand how the sizing works. Most costumes come in S, M or L sizes, which may differ from sizing in your own country. Keep an eye out for these sizing charts which help you compare US, Chinese and Korean to the Japanese sizes. If you cannot find one of these, take a look at the costume box instead.

Complete the Look With a Wide Range of Accessories and Makeup

Some costumes may need those few extra touches to make them more convincing. For instance, if you are planning to go as something Halloween related like a vampire or a clown, you will most likely want to use face paint or put on fake blood. Walk past all the costumes and you will find a small section filled with different face paints, hair paints and other costume makeup.

For those planning to dress up as a certain character and wanting to splash out, you could consider buying one of the many wigs.

If dressing up isn’t really your thing but you still want to show some Halloween spirit, we suggest opting for one of these light up or character masks as they are both reasonable and easy to wear. They also look quite scary…

Alternatively, you could pick one of the many cat, rabbit or devil ears available. We personally like the Minnie mouse-esque devil ears!

Get Ready For a Halloween Party!

Instead of going out to an event, you may decide to host your own Halloween party. If so, you will definitely want to pick up some of these decorations including this Halloween-themed balloon display, an amazing backdrop for Instagram photos.

These Halloween alphabet lights and lanterns also make great decorations whilst being fairly reasonable, costing between ¥298 to ¥498. The pumpkin and ghost bunting on the top row are a must-have!

These Halloween lights and lanterns also make great decorations whilst being fairly reasonable, costing between ¥298 to ¥498. The pumpkin and ghost bunting on the top row are a must-have!

Although ‘trick or treating’ isn’t as big in Japan, you still will want to stock up on Halloween sweets. Around this time of year, you can find special Halloween versions of your favorite sweets including Halloween Koala’s March and Caplico Halloween Ice Cream snacks.

Where to go this Halloween?

So you now have your costume and accessories all sorted but still haven’t decided where to go…

In Tokyo, you will find many different Halloween events taking place throughout the whole of October. Some of the most popular destinations people like to go to get into the Halloween spirit are amusement parks like Disneyland and Sanrio Puroland or the Ikebukuro Cosplay festival.

On Halloween itself, the thing most people do is head to Shibuya crossing all dressed up and parade around. However, be warned that in recent years there has been an increasing amount of security concerns surrounding this event as the crowds can often get quite rowdy and it can be hard to move across the crossing itself.

For something a bit safer and quieter, we recommend going somewhere a bit more lowkey such as a Halloween themed afternoon tea like the one at Roppongi Hills or buying some Halloween-themed treats from shops like Mister Donut and enjoying them in the comfort of your apartment.