One of Tokyo’s annual Halloween traditions is back.
The telltale signs that we’re coming up on Halloween are starting to appear in Japan. Cafes are offering pumpkin-flavored sweets. Shopping centers are putting up decorations featuring jack-o’-lantern and black cat imagery. And Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward is telling people that the neighborhood is not going to tolerate drunken street parties.
For several years, the area around Shibuya Station, one of Tokyo’s busiest rail hubs, was widely known as the premier place in the city for costumed people-watching and public drinking on Halloween night, as well as the preceding weekend if October 31 fell on a weekday. As the crowds got bigger and rowdier, though, incidents of theft, vandalism, violence, and general drunken mayhem also grew more and more common, becoming a black eye for the neighborhood and affecting Shibuya’s image not only among Japanese people but overseas visitors to Japan well.
In response, the Shibuya Ward government began placing extra restrictions on public conduct in the area during the Halloween season, and that’s going to be continuing this year. On October 2, Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasabe announced the start of this year’s public awareness campaign, which carries the theme of “Kinshi da yo! Meiwaku Halloween (“It’s not allowed! Nuisance Halloween”), which also has the official English rendering of “Stop Troublesome Halloweens.”
【渋谷区 今年のハロウィーン対策方針発表】
『禁止だよ！迷惑ハロウィーン』
10月中旬以降31日(金)夕方〜翌朝を中心に、渋谷駅周辺の警備、マナー啓発、交通規制、ごみ対策、喫煙所閉鎖、路上飲酒制限、LUUPポート停止依頼、酒類販売自粛依頼等を実施。
長谷部区長「ルールを守り安全に楽しんで」 pic.twitter.com/aNtqT5U60P
— 渋谷のラジオ (@shibuyanoradio) October 2, 2025
This year’s precautions will include 10 security observation posts around the Shibuya Station area on Halloween night, including one inside Hachiko Square, the plaza with the statue memorializing Shibuya’s famously faithful dog. In addition to Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers, 125 private security guards will also be on duty, and crowd control protocols will be in place limiting which station exits/entrances can be used and where pedestrian traffic will be allowed to flow. Shibuya Ward is requesting that convenience stores and other retailers suspend the sale of alcoholic beverages on Halloween night, and bringing booze from home or purchased elsewhere isn’t an option either. Shibuya Ward began banning public drinking at Halloween starting in 2019, and since 2024 there’s a permanent, year-round ban on public alcohol consumption in the station area, including Center Gai.
▼ Public drinking is banned all year long in the marked area.
In addition to public drinking, among the nuisance/troublesome behaviors the campaign calls on people to refrain from are smoking in public spaces, littering, loitering, leaving dirty messes in public bathrooms, and excessive noise. During the announcement, Hasabe sought to clarify that Shibuya Ward has no beef with Halloween itself, just the commandeering of public spaces for invasive, unruly conduct. “We want to differentiate between good Halloween [celebrations] and bad Halloween [celebrations], so that the good ones can grow,” he said, indirectly referencing organized events in permitted spaces.
Last year’s Shibuya Halloween crowds numbered around 18,000 people on the street at their peak, and with October 31 falling on a Friday this year, crowds are expected to be larger.
Source: Shibuya Keizai Shimbun, Shibuya Ward
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Shibuya Ward
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