Halloween at Universal Studios Japan with Kids
Last Updated on October 24, 2024 by Kay
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Halloween is one of the biggest events at Universal Studios Japan (USJ), so I thought I would write an article about what it’s like to visit during this time with kids.
Halloween at Universal Studios Japan is an annual event held from around the beginning of September to the beginning of November. Note that the exact dates change every year, so check the official USJ website for more details.
Keep in mind that if you’re visiting Universal Studios Japan in October, avoid the time around Sports Day at all costs. I go into this in detail in my article on Sports Festivals in Japan but I experienced first-hand how crazy busy it was. I had never seen Universal Studios Japan that crowded before, and when I asked a staff member, she told me it’s probably the busiest time of the year!
Table of Contents
Halloween Horror Nights
One of the biggest draws to Universal Studios Japan in autumn is Halloween Horror Nights. This is a time when zombies appear on the streets from around 6 PM. Universal Studios Japan itself doesn’t recommend this for younger kids and gives announcements beforehand that little kids should leave.
Having experienced seeing the zombies myself, I also don’t recommend this for younger children.
Now I will say that the zombies now are far less scary compared to when I first went to USJ’s Halloween Horror Nights a few years ago (before my daughter was born). I was pretty terrified, and I’m an adult!
Unlike a few years back, now there is a mix of zombies, such as ones dressed like clowns and others with a more ethereal, pretty appearance. These zombies are located in different areas of the park, so you can choose which ones you want to see (and avoid).
My Japanese mom friend showed me some pictures of the pretty zombies, which she took when she went with her 13-year-old. We both thought that the pretty zombies would be fine for our five-year-olds to see, especially after we showed them the photos and they seemed okay, so we decided to stay for Halloween Horror Nights.
Last year, my daughter also happened to get a glimpse of some of the other zombies before we left. (Long story short, I left her with my sister-in-law near USJ’s entrance while I rushed to get my annual pass renewed and they somehow drifted to the zombie area.) Anyway, she was really curious about the zombies and had wanted to stay to see more but I refused.
This year, there were quite a few kids in the area where we were waiting for the pretty zombies, even some younger than my daughter, which was surprising. These were all Japanese kids, too!
My daughter was really excited while we waited and her friend was a little scared. But when the zombies made their debut, so did loud noises. Sirens, USJ cast shouting for people to run and be careful, creepy sounds as well such as growling. The lights dimmed as well.
The zombies also sometimes jump at you and some have weapons like fake chainsaws, but they’ll never touch you.
Interestingly, my daughter’s friend (same age, five years old) was completely okay with this chaos while my daughter held onto me and was close to tears. She couldn’t even see the zombies because there were so many people — the sounds were just that scary to her!
Despite that my daughter’s friend was having fun dancing with the zombies (yes, the zombie dance at certain times throughout the night as well to a song by Japanese pop star Ado), we booked it out of there to the safe area. I also saw some older kids in tears being led away by their parents.
So where is the safe area? Universal Wonderland.
This area is zombie-free with no scary sounds so kids can continue having fun for as long as they want without having to fear encountering any zombies. There’s also a special exit so you can leave the park zombie-free as well! It can be a little confusing to find so don’t hesitate to ask a cast member.
I visited USJ again a few days later for Halloween Horror Nights with my sister-in-law and no kids, and I was surprised to see lots of little kids there throughout the night! Some were even younger than my daughter but seemed completely unphased by the zombies.
So… it’s up to you as a parent to decide whether you want your kids to see the zombies. But in my experience, just the sounds were enough to scare my daughter. And despite that her friend was dancing and completely fine, she told us she didn’t want to go back and see the zombies any time soon.
(Thankfully, my daughter isn’t traumatized or anything. She sleeps fine and now has a “fun” story to tell people like our neighbors. I also told the kids afterward that zombies only eat adults because kids taste gross, and they seemed very happy with that explanation.)
It’s also super crowded so it might take longer than usual to get from one area to another.
Wondering what the other zombies looked like? Here are some photos.
(My daughter did NOT see these zombies in person, I got these photos from my aforementioned mom friend. Her 13-year-old also didn’t see these zombies as she escaped to Universal Wonderland. However, interestingly, my daughter did see the photos below since I like to show her my blog posts and she kept asking to see them again!)
So does this mean there’s nothing Halloween-related for kids? Absolutely not! Universal Studios Japan during Halloween is awesome for kids! Here’s why.
Trick-or-Treating
If kids say “Trick or Treat” to cast members who have a Halloween-themed bag, they’ll get special Universal Studios Japan candy!
Here’s what the bag looks like:
And here’s my daughter’s loot:
Adults can also get special treats after 6 PM at Universal Wonderland! (Spoiler alert — it’s the same candy as above but some come in different packaging.)
Spooky Food
There is so much fun and spooky food at Universal Studios Japan during their Halloween event, and yes, kids can enjoy it too!
My daughter absolutely loved this hot dog (but her friend found it a little spicy):
We also really liked these adorable drinks featuring the USJ Halloween Horror Nights mascots Hami-Kuma and Hami-Kuma Soul! One was made with Coke and the other with Calpis. My daughter had Calpis since she doesn’t like carbonated drinks.
The Studio Stars Restaurant also has special Pokemon dishes during this time of year featuring Gengar and Mimikyu.
Hami-Kuma
As mentioned earlier, USJ’s Halloween mascots are Hami-Kuma and Hami-Kuma Soul. With one eyeball popping out, these bears are a little creepy looking but for some reason, my daughter loves them.
We wanted to get some souvenirs, such as a headband, featuring these bears but they were all sold out! When the zombies show up, they won’t “attack” you and instead bow down if they see you have this bear, so I thought it would be fun to experience that. But alas, everyone else had the same thing on their mind so these were quickly swept up.
There is a concert throughout Halloween Horror Nights (after 6 PM) featuring Hami Kuma and the ADO song. This was pretty fun to watch and I imagine my daughter would have liked it had she stayed.
Halloween Souvenirs
Even if you can’t get a hold of the bears, there are still plenty of other Halloween-themed souvenirs at USJ. In fact, they have an entire store dedicated to it!
You can find special items like Halloween headbands, stuffies, and shirts.
Halloween Costumes
In October, you’ll find lots of kids and even adults dressed in Halloween costumes. It’s a great time to get into the Halloween spirit!
I also suggest checking what kind of anime collaborations are running at Universal Studios Japan and dressing your kids in costumes related to characters in those anime.
For instance, when we went there was (and still is) a Demon Slayer collab at USJ. My daughter dressed as Shinobu Kocho and her friend dressed as Kanao Tsuyuri. They looked so adorable and got lots of compliments from people.
We also ran into some adults dressed like other characters from Demon Slayer so we took a group photo of the cosplayers and our kids. It was a great experience and the photo will become a wonderful memory.
Halloween Character Greetings
During this time of year, characters at Universal Studios Japan are dressed in Halloween-themed outfits or as monsters like Frankenstein.
My daughter was quite scared of some of the Minion monsters but her friend loved them!
There are also special greetings with ghost Pokemon.
My daughter is a huge fan of Sanrio characters, so she was happy to see My Melody, Kuromi, and Hello Kitty wearing Halloween clothing.
Elmo wearing a Dracula costume was quite cute as well!
Pokemon Jumpin’ Halloween Party
Kids can enjoy a stage performance featuring DJ Pikachu, DJ Gengar, Mimikyu, and Misdreavus dancing to songs by DECO*27. There’s confetti and streamers, and overall it’s quite enjoyable.
People line up early for this to get a good spot so make sure you check the schedule online. It’s easy enough to see from the street, though.
Wrap-up: Universal Studios Japan Halloween with Kids
As you can see, from popular characters wearing Halloween costumes to candy, there are a lot of fun things for kids to experience at Universal Studios Japan during Halloween.
For more tips about visiting Universal Studios Japan with kids throughout the year, read this article.