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A blue party bus filled with people leans into a turn on a city street. Bold yellow and white text on the side reads “CALL US AT 03-5783-6-117 IF YOU WANNA HAVE A REAL PARTY”.

Dan Wilton photographed Halloween in Tokyo for Vice

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Date
5 November 2014

If you follow him on Instagram you’ll likely already know that photographer Dan Wilton is currently in Tokyo, working on a number of different photographic projects but also just having a really wonderful and incredibly photogenic time. It’s the “good time” element that his most recent series Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party which he shot for Vice focuses on. “Someone told me that Halloween isn’t big in Japan,” Dan explains. “I got a feeling they might be wrong when I arrived and there was Halloween bunting up in my hotel, three weeks before the day. Sure enough, Tokyo lost the plot on Friday night.”

Shot in Roppongi and the backstreets of Shibuya and Shinjuku, the series feels something like a love letter to the freaks of Japan’s party scene. And given his track record (shooting bands The Bots and TEED on tour and generally having a fantastic time) we wouldn’t expect anything less.

A person covered in white powder stands in a tiled corridor, carrying a large black cross. They wear a white cloth around their waist and a crown of thorns.
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Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

A person with red hair and blood-stained makeup poses with arms outstretched. They wear a black robe tied with white fabric and have white bandages wrapped around their head and arm.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

Three people wear black spandex skeleton suits and masks, sitting on a grey pavement. The masks feature a white skull design and an opening for the mouth.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

A person stands with arms crossed, wearing a tight black bodysuit and a bright blue face mask. A camera strap with the words “Canon” and “EOS 70D” hangs around their neck.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

People hold large, gold-framed paintings of the Mona Lisa, but with the face replaced by a person. They stand in a busy station next to a sign for the “Oedo Line”.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

A person in a costume with a large, oversized black coat and a fake head emerging from the collar. They hold a pale, blood-stained doll and smile at the camera.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

A person with long, curly hair sits on concrete steps, holding a walkie-talkie to their lips. They wear a tan, police-style outfit with a black belt and black knee-high socks.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

A blue double-decker party bus filled with people drives past a building in a city. Large white Japanese characters are displayed across the building's windows, with a banner on the bus reading “SPECIAL PARTY”.
Above

Dan Wilton: Call Us If You Wanna Have a Real Party

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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