Halloween at Universal Studios Japan with Kids
Last Updated on September 18, 2026 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. This year it will be held from September 11th to November 8th.
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!
Halloween Horror Nights
A Look at the Street Zombies
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.
In fact, USJ officially does not recommend Halloween Horror Nights for children ages five and under, while children ages 12 and under require parental consent.
Having seen the zombies myself, I also don’t recommend this for younger children.
The zombies this year are more horrifying than last year. They remind me of Evil Dead and are a little closer to what I experienced when I first went to USJ’s Halloween Horror Nights a few years ago (before my daughter was born).
Thankfully, they don’t chase you as they did back then. The zombies are contained to certain areas, so you can avoid them if you stick to the sidewalk.
In previous years, some of the zombies were far less scary, yet they still scared my daughter (although my daughter’s friend thought they were fun).
Despite my daughter’s friend having fun dancing with the zombies (yes, the zombie dance at certain times throughout the night as well to songs by Japanese pop stars), we booked it out of there to the safe area. I also saw some older kids in tears being led away by their parents.
The sounds are quite scary, too, with chainsaws, screaming, growling, and more. Below is a video I took this year (2026) to give you an idea of what it sounds like.
So given this, personally, I would only go to Halloween Horror Nights at USJ this year with your kids if they’re teens.
So, where is the safe area? Well, there are a few. The main one is 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!
To find this exit, follow the signs. There will be staff holding signs telling you where to go but just in case, here’s what the path looks like.
Go straight past Hello Kitty’s Cupcake ride and snack shop, and then turn right before Hello Kitty’s Ribbon Boutique and head straight for the bathroom sign.
Go past the washrooms and you’ll see a large path to your right. This is what it looks like when the doors are closed, but the staff will open them at 6 PM.
Super Nintendo World
Another “safe” area where there are no zombies is Super Nintendo World, and the path from Universal Wonderland to Super Nintendo World is completely zombie-free, but you might want to be careful with young kids.
This is because the path to get to Super Nintendo World is quite dark (I had several people knock into me), and kids can still hear the creepy zombie sounds, screaming, etc.
The good news is that wait times for Mario Kart and Yoshi’s Adventure at Super Nintendo World are considerably shorter than usual.
Minions Area
Okay, so this area has zero zombies and wait times for the rides are quite short. BUT you have to pass a zombie area to get there.
Again, just in case you missed it… You have to pass zombies to get here!
The zombies are contained to the road, so if you stay on the sidewalk, you should be fine. But the sounds are still quite scary and made my daughter cry.
So, should I let my kid see zombies at Universal Studios Japan?
Since moving to Osaka, I visit USJ every year for Halloween Horror Nights with my sister-in-law and no kids (it’s our fun yearly tradition), and we’re always so surprised to see lots of little kids there throughout the night! Some are even younger than my daughter but are completely unfazed 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 are 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. She kept to her word, and over the past two years, we avoided the zombie area completely.
(Thankfully, my daughter isn’t traumatized or anything. She sleeps fine and after her first experience with zombies, she had 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. My daughter still remembered it a year later when we went back to USJ during the Halloween season!)
Also, keep in mind that Universal Studios Japan is also super crowded during the Halloween season, so it might take longer than usual to get from one area to another. Wait times for rides before the zombies appear is absolutely bonkers.
Wondering what the other zombies looked like? Here are some photos.
(My daughter did NOT see these zombies in person. These are a mix of my photos as well as my aforementioned mom friend’s. 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 keeps asking to see them again!)
After going to Halloween Horror Nights this year (2026), I can safely say that most of the zombies look pretty creepy, weird, or downright horrifying compared to last year. There are absolutely none that I would consider showing my daughter. Unfortunately, there aren’t any pretty zombies this year either!
Also, attractions like Jurassic Park: The Ride and JAWS change after 6:30 PM to become more Halloween-oriented. For Jurassic Park, you ride in the dark (and my daughter is already scared of the normal ride!), and for JAWS, the lighting is reduced, heavy fog is added, and parts of the lagoon become red, particularly around the shark attacks.
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 at USJ
One of the easiest Halloween activities to enjoy with young kids is Trick-or-Treating.
From park opening until 5 PM, if kids say “Trick or Treat” to cast members who have a Halloween-themed bag, they’ll get special Universal Studios Japan candy! Note that this isn’t offered inside Super Nintendo World or the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Here’s what the bag looks like:
And here’s my daughter’s loot:
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!
The Halloween food changes every year at USJ. For 2026, Studio Stars Restaurant has several family-friendly Halloween dishes, including a Snoopy hamburger and omurice plate, My Melody and Kuromi croissant sandwich plate, Halloween desserts, and a special Halloween Party Kids Set for children ages six and under.
Last year we really liked these adorable drinks featuring the USJ Halloween Horror Nights mascots HamiKuma and HamiKuma Soul!
One was made with Coke and the other with Calpis. My daughter always has the Calpis one since she doesn’t like carbonated drinks.
This year, they have a zombie bar with a Hami Kuma chocolate sundae. I was way too full to try this, but it looks delicious!
Below is a photo of the Pumpkaboo chicken burger meal and my daughter’s kids set from last year.
And here is the Litwick hamburg meal. (I really liked this one, I recommend it over the chicken burger.)
HamiKuma
As mentioned earlier, USJ’s Halloween mascot is HamiKuma, who now comes in three other versions: HamiKuma Soul, HamiKuma Candy, and HamiKuma Punk.
With one eyeball popping out, these bears are a little creepy-looking, but for some reason, my daughter loves them.
These souvenirs sell out fast, especially the headbands, so the sooner you get them, the better. You can find them at the Beverly Hills Gifts store near the entrance of the park.
If you show HamiKuma to a zombie, the zombie will react to it. However, it seems like the reactions have changed this year.
For instance, in one year, all the zombies would either ignore you or bow down when seeing the bear. In another year, it could either be good or bad. It really depends on the zombie.
After 6 PM, there is a concert throughout Halloween Horror Nights (after 6 PM). HamiKuma is still part of Halloween Horror Nights in 2026, appearing in the new Halloween Horror Nights Academy: 15 Years of Screams.
The show is quite loud, and you need to pass zombies to get to the stage. I haven’t taken my daughter to this show yet because I don’t think she’ll like it and will likely be scared because it includes zombies and scary imagery. USJ does not recommend it for children ages five and under.
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.
The characters featured on Halloween merchandise change every year. For 2026, there are Halloween collections featuring Snoopy, Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Kuromi.
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 a few years back, there was a Demon Slayer collab at USJ. To mark the occasion, 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.
For the last two years, my daughter has been quite scared of some of the Minion monsters, but her friend loves them!
Some years also have special greetings with ghost Pokémon, although there are none this year, unfortunately.
My daughter is a huge fan of Sanrio characters, so she is always delighted to see My Melody, Kuromi, and Hello Kitty wearing Halloween clothing.
Elmo wearing a Dracula costume is quite cute as well!
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 that don’t involve zombies.
For more tips about visiting Universal Studios Japan with kids throughout the year, read this article.