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The Yomiuri Shimbun Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasebe, right, and Shinjuku Ward Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi urge people to refrain from drinking in public during this year’s Halloween period, in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Monday.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
15:24 JST, October 8, 2024
Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasebe and Shinjuku Ward Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi urged people against causing a nuisance to others on the wards’ streets during Halloween later this month at a joint press conference held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Monday.
The mayors called for people to refrain from public drinking, littering and other problematic behavior mainly around Shibuya Station and in the Kabukicho district.
Both ward offices will dispatch over 100 officials to patrol the areas on Halloween.
Last year, ahead of the first Halloween since COVID-19 was downgraded to a category 5 infectious disease, the Shibuya Ward Office urged people to refrain from visiting busy districts in the ward for fun, predicting that the number of revelers would increase rapidly.
As a result of the office’s urging, the crowd around Shibuya Station was significantly smaller than expected, but about 3,000 people gathered in Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward, which had not attracted large crowds during previous Halloweens.
Those that gathered in Kabukicho drank on the streets, caused a nuisance to others and littered.
Some have inferred that the crowd showed up in Kabukicho because the call from Shibuya Ward Office to refrain from coming to the ward. Therefore, this year the two ward offices decided to issue the warning jointly.
Starting this month, Shibuya Ward Office prohibits public drinking in the ward at night all year round under a local ordinance.
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Police officers ask people, including some in Halloween costumes, not to stop walking in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Oct. 31, 2023.
The Shinjuku Ward Office prohibits public drinking only on the day of Halloween but will ask retail stores in the prohibited areas to refrain from selling alcohol.
“People loiter in the area, cause a nuisance to others, make a mess and then leave. [Halloween] has become an event that makes us doubt whether people have common sense,” Yoshizumi said.
Hasebe said that Shibuya Ward would not accommodate Halloween gatherings this year. “I want people to spend their time following the rules and not drinking on the streets or causing a nuisance to others,” he said.
