Seven years ago, I took a wrong turn on the Internet and stumbled upon the insane world of Japanese Halloween costumes. The next year, I went deep into the underbelly of the German costuming industry and barely escaped with my life, and also one column. Finally, in 2008, having taken a vow to leave no insane costume behind, I went back.

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Which is just one of the ways my life has paralleled John Rambo's.

It's taken awhile for me to regroup mentally, and since then not a Halloween has passed that I haven't spent shouting out the window at costumed children passing by. But I'm better now and, would you believe it, the Japanese aren't. Indeed, they're crazier than ever, and below I've gathered some of the nuttiest examples of what Japanese costumers have been up to in the past few years.

(For some of you, allow me to head off your criticism right away: There are obvious and significant cultural differences between the Japanese and us, and even a small amount of research would illuminate and explain why these costumes are less insane than they first might seem.)

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(For the rest of you: Don't worry. I haven't done any of that research.)