What is weird with this photo?

While having a drink at a bar where one of my friends work to rest up after my magic show, a guy I know a little and who sometimes uses my Facebook updates of where I am and seem to be having a good time as recommendations of places to visit (on other days, when I am not there) showed up and ended up in the seat next to me. He wanted to take a photo together with me. My friend the bartender suggested he should take a photo without making any Halloween style poses, just looking normal. And to use this photo on Facebook with no comment as to there being a zombie beside him, just posting it with something like "Drinking in One Star Bar again.".

Looking "normal"

Other people in the bar also wanted to take photos, but they wanted to take photos being bitten by a zombie or things like that.

Magic show at the H's Cafe Halloween party

H's Cafe (read "his cafe") is a bar in Sapporo that among other things serves great hamburgers. Possibly the best burgers in Sapporo. They also have Halloween parties. Last year I was asked to do a magic show at their Halloween party, and they were apparently happy with the show and asked me back this year too.

The whole place was decorated with fake spider web and strange paintings that looked scary from some angles and not so scary from others. H's Cafe has a fairly young (early twenties? I cannot really tell with Japanese people even when they have not painted their faces for Halloween) clientele, and the Halloween party was no exception. You had unlimited drinks for the duration of the party and you could get free hamburgers and chocolate too.

There was a costume competition, and anyone in costume got a number to stick to themselves somewhere and you could vote for two or three numbers to win the costume competition. The winners got a H's Cafe free pass, which means you can eat and drink for free during November, under the condition that you are there with at least one other person (who will have to pay for their food and drinks). This year I ended up in second place in the costume competition, but I did not have time to use the free pass (the university keeps me too busy).

Scary reflection in the red bull cooler

My magic show went well this year too. People laughed at the right times and were surprised at the right times. It is always a bit difficult for me to do magic in weird costumes. No pockets where you are used to having them. People cannot understand your facial expression. Things like that. After my magic show was finished, people I know showed up by change (they had no idea I was doing a show, I had no idea they ever visited this place).

A group of vampires, and me. The girl in blue (rightmost) won the costume competition.

Three guys dressed up as "people who forgot to dress up for Halloween"

I took a photo with this guy last year too (last year he won the costume competition)

Face paint starting to peel off

Dressing up

Back in Sapporo, I was asked to do a magic show at a Halloween party one week before Halloween. I had bought a t-shirt in Sweden that has a skin color print that makes you look like a girl, and I used this and a wig I bought but never used for my slit-mouthed-woman costume back in August.

I also added some torn pieces of skin that you could peel back. I had to get up really really early the next morning and fly to Tokyo, so I did not want to have a costume that would take too much time to get out of after the party was finished (sometime after midnight)

The adventures of kuchisake onna

Here is a bunch of photos of me from the day I dressed up as kuchisake onna (the slit mouthed woman urban legend). Most of the photos were taken by friends of mine when they ran into me.

Selfie when I finally finished getting into character

Photo from my friend who sold me my new camera

A photo by a girl who worked at the office that ran the student dorm I lived in my first 6 months in Sapporo

Selfie taken with my cell phone, that suggested "beautiful skin"-filter as default

Visiting our magic bar on the way home

A whole bunch of photos from my friends that I had udon with at lunch time

Before the competition started

After dancing past the judges you get thirsty

On the way from the judges booth to the normal Bon-Odori space

Joining the normal Bon-Odori

"Strike a sexy pose", in Ropossa

People wanted me to have fresh corn, but eating it the normal Japanese way would probably ruin my slit mouth, so they carved off some corn and gave it to me in a bowl, with a spoon. Very helpful, actually

I also got a straw for my tea, to lessen the impact on my slit mouth makeup.

Later they wanted me to eat pasta. Which was difficult. More specifically, they wanted to take photos of me eating pasta.

Sexual harassment

More harassment

Bartending for a bit

Someone actually took a photo of the obi, which took me lots of time to get into this shape.

The kuchisake onna usually asks people 「私、きれい？」 ("Do you think I am beautiful?") and if you answer [きれい」 ("Kirei", which means beautiful (so "Yes")), she will take off the mask she normally wears and ask again. If you still say yes, she will make you as beautiful as she is by cutting up your face with her scissors. If you say no, she will be angry and kill you. There is a brand of soap in Japan that is called KireiKirei, ("very clean" or "very beautiful"), so one of my friends suggested going around saying "watashi, kirei?" and then answering myself with "kirei kirei" and hold up such soap, like they do in the commercials.

Another friend who saw me in the park

The kuchisake onna is said to have a weakness for candy

Coming home, many hours later

The makeup held up pretty well during the night (from 16:00 to 04:00)

I tore my stockings sometime during the night. And I wore funny underwear.

My friend who lives across the street from me sent me the photos her father took.

The had a great spot to capture me dancing past the judges booth

Another friend was right near the start of the competition area,and caught me waiting for my turn to start dancing.

I was dragged along to the supermarket and asked to "pick up some meat", "hold some cabbage", and all kinds of things.

The supermarket night shift staff wondered if I was alright, haha.

I put the sexual harassment photos on Facebook. To protect the reputation of my magic bar boss, I blacked out his face. And then tagged him in the photo.

One of the more surprising things during the evening was that when I got out from a bar at three in the morning I ran into these two girls. The blond one I know. And she immediately said: "Ah, Jonas". Most people did not recognize me at first glance that evening, so that was impressive.

Photos from meeting people outside

Photos from doing magic. It is not easy doing magic in a yukata. It is even harder when you have glued things to your face so you cannot talk properly. But it went fine anyway.