TOKYO – Tight crowd control will be in place in Tokyo’s Shibuya and Shinjuku districts on Friday, with authorities bracing for large numbers of visitors on Halloween night, though a softer approach is being taken than in previous years.
Under the slogan “Stop troublesome Halloween,” around 125 security personnel will be deployed across 10 locations in Shibuya from 7 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. The controlled areas will include the famous Hachiko dog statue, which will remain covered until Saturday morning.
Shibuya Ward’s municipal government will also continue to implement a ban on public alcohol consumption, effective daily from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. in areas surrounding JR and Keio Shibuya stations, including the district’s iconic scramble crossing.
However, this year’s rhetoric to prevent overcrowding has been noticeably softer compared to the last two years, when Shibuya’s mayor explicitly urged people not to visit.
“We are not trying to stop Halloween,” Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe said in a recent press conference, adding that it is important to distinguish between a “good Halloween” and a “bad Halloween.”
Shinjuku Ward will also enforce similar restrictions, banning public alcohol consumption around the Kabukicho area from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday, a measure that began last year for the Halloween period.
Neither of the drinking bans carry any form of penalty.
Shibuya will also implement traffic control measures from 4 p.m. Friday, restricting vehicle entry in areas around the station. In addition, all parking meters near Shibuya Station will be suspended for the entire day and cannot be used.
The tight controls are in response to the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul that killed more than 150 people when tens of thousands gathered to celebrate the first Halloween since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
AloJapan.com