What a perfect time to come to Japan and do some food anthropology! It’s been 10 years since I first came to Japan, and now I’m back for a quick visit, just in time for documenting Halloween. How far we’ve come in ten years from just Baskin Robbins’ Halloween flavors.

This mini-sized pumpkin pie contains mixture of Hokkaido kabocha cream and peeled kabocha mixed with anko, baked into a pastry crust.

Pie in Japanese means more like pastry, not an American-style pie.

And here we have the “Torokeru” cookies from Sweets + at Family Mart: a pumpkin cookie with a pumpkin design, a sweet potato cookie with a witch’s hat design, and a strawberry-chocolate bat. Look at that Halloween packaging with the haunted house and ghost designs.

Next stop, Mister Donut!