Images are from Cookpad. They are linked to their original recipes and credited.

I do one of these articles every year, but now I want to start documenting the numbers, since I have a theory that Halloween in Japan is gaining more and more cultural saturation every year.

Cookpad, Japan’s most popular recipe website, lists 76 entries for “ハロウィンのお弁当おかず”; the total number in the Halloween category is 3311 (as of Oct. 23, 2013). Here are some of the new and cute bentos for 2013:

Kyra-ben Halloween Ghost Bento by cake*mama

キャラ弁＊ハロウィンおばけ弁当♪ by cake*mama

This cute ghost is made of white rice, cheese, nori, and ketchup.

Kyara-ben: Fish Sausage Mummy by Pukuyoshi

【キャラ弁】 魚肉ソーセージdeミイラ by ぷくよし

This mummy is made out of fish sausage, cheese, and nori. Cheese and nori seem to be very popular for the black-colored pieces in bento.

For Halloween: Double-Jack Bento by meg526

《ハロウィンに♪》Wジャックのお弁当 by meg526

This bento has a jack-o-lantern onigiri and a Jack Skellington onigiri. The designs are made with nori and the orange coloring is made by mixing the rice with ketchup and butter.

Halloween Kyara-ben Ghost and Jack-o-Lantern by momo**

ハロウィン*キャラ弁☆おばけ＆ジャック♪ by momo**

This bento uses ketchup for the pumpkin and reddish Viennese sausage skins for the cheeks and tongue of the ghost.

Kyara-ben for Halloween: “Franken-kun” by Chicchi no ohanaben

＊キャラ弁＊ハロウィン★フランケン君♪ by chicchi no ohanaben

Frankenstein’s Monster (lovingly referred as “Furanken” in Japanese) is made of rice tinted with soy sace, peas, ham, cheese, and nori.

Check out these recipes and more in the Halloween category on Cookpad!