FAMILY PROGRAM

Sunday, October 29, 11 AM—3 PM 

Embark on an eerie expedition by land and by sea to reach new frontiers filled with friendly Japanese ghosts and goblins. Discover a spooky world of unparalleled adventure at Japan Society’s Obake Family Day! Come dressed in your Halloween costume and join our dragon-led parade of 100 ghouls!

ADVANCE TICKETS: Adults $15/$12 Japan Society members; Kids (ages 3-12) $10/$7
DAY-OF-TICKETS: Adults $18/$15 Japan Society members; Kids (ages 3-12) $13/$10

Children under the age of 2 are welcome to attend for free. Activities are appropriate for all ages with parent supervision. Space is limited and timed tickets are required for some events. 

Activities:

Mysterious Lake Puppet Performance Three performances: 11:30 AM, 12:45 PM & 1:50 PM Please pre-select your performance time with your ticket purchase.In Japan, there is a mysterious forest. Believe it or not, every 7 years, a huge lake appears in one night then disappears within several days. Even with advanced scientific technologies, nobody knows the reason…In this magical realism play, an American boy journeys to Japan and is personally transformed by encountering friendly “Yokai” spirits and a dragon named Nushi. The show is filled with unconventional puppets, original songs, and Taiko drumming!

Haunted Adventure Tour 11 AM—3 PMArm yourself with amulets at Dragon’s Gate, sail through the treacherous Umibozu Sea, and escape Mount Tengu by outdoing a trickster obake! Children will listen to scary stories and encounter live obake characters in their spooky environments on this interactive quest that ends in finding real treasure!

Port of Call Amusement Hall 11 AM—3 PMMake a stopover at this port of call designed to provide amusements to those long at sea! This seaport is well known for its Aki Matsuri games. Visitors beware—all the games are filled with a startling array of weird ghouls and scallywags! Ghost & goblin infused wanage, shateki or senbonbiki, anyone?

Tengu’s Magic Fan-Making 11 AM—3 PMMake your own enchanted 11-feather Tengu fan and wave it around as you wander the building to perform magical feats and protect yourself from all the obake you encounter!

Hyakki Yagyo Coloring Wall 11 AM—3 PMOn one night every year, Japan’s ghosts and supernatural creatures converge to form a night parade to travel to an unknown destination. Dream up and draw your own ghoul or fantastic creature to add to this coloring wall.

Discovery Pack 11 AM—3 PMThese colorful backpacks will lead your family on a self-guided gallery adventure throughout Japan Society Gallery’s fall exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto: Gates of Paradise. Packs are filled with art projects, puzzles, games and touch objects that help children and their adult caregivers connect with art in the galleries.

Flashing Firefly-Making and Lucky Eyeball Charms 11 AM—3 PMCreate your own light-up finger puppet before you see Mysterious Lakeso you can be part of the show’s interactive glowing firefly scene! Then create your own cute eye charm inspired by Nushi the Dragon’s protective eye.

Fun Face Painting 11 AM—3 PMDon’t have a costume ready? Want to enhance the costumes you do have? Get your face painted and transform into the character of your choice!

Grand Finale: Parade of 100 Ghouls 2:40—3 PMThis special procession, led by Mysterious Lake obake puppets and accompanied by the beat of Taiko drums, is the culminating activity for Obake Family Day. All families are encouraged to join in this march inspired by Japan’s traditional mythical Night Parade of 100 Demons!

Healthy Japanese light meals, snacks and festival-related refreshments available for purchase by .