Celebrations subdued in Tokyo's Shibuya district on weekend before Halloween

Now it looks like a singles gathering. I see your agenda Japanese government!

I can understand places wanting to avoid overcrowding. Why do people want to hang around in the streets in fancy dress anyway?

Maybe they could have Halloween parties at home or at their workplaces, schools, universities etc...

Just thinking out aloud here. Have a good week readers!

Unreasonably warm in Osaka again today..

my mistake...*unseasonably warm.

 I want them to make sure they follow the rules."

The new rules brought in by joyless functionaries who view the idea of young people being young people and enjoying themselves.

God forbid young people forget their duty to be as miserable as their elders.

The Halloween kids of yesteryear have grown up and flown the Halloween nest.

It is interesting that in the photo, the Japanese message and the English message do not match.

休みます suggests a suspension for a period of time.

An official event somewhere feels like such an easy cashgrab

An official event somewhere feels like such an easy cashgrab

On the same scale, with the necessary infrastructure to guarantee safety? not really easy nor cheap.

 noise from big crowds during the Halloween period in recent years.

Laughable. They now have police screeching into megaphones and whistling all night long.

There is a few options open here, one could be to let people in, but only ticket holders are allowed in, this way you could limit the amount of people and thus control the crowd, it cost quite a bit of money to erect crowd barriers, so why not allow some people in, the revinew generated will subsidise the policing, as for allowing alcohol to be sold , ummm, probably not, but what's to stop revelers drinking at home before they go out? The sign is missing the words no fun allowed

I’m all for having fun but I’m not a big fan of the kind of crowd that goes to Shibuya on Halloween and New Year to “have fun”—(foreigners (nothing against foreigners but they’re just… foreigners/tourists), loners, Japanese guys trying to break out of (and tired of) their routines (and jobs) and girls desperate for attention)—

…

imo, it’s not worth having to deal with the obvious risks and results (most often bad results) of this so called fun (these Halloween and New Year gatherings are not official events planned by Shibuya and the TMG in a suitable location)—if you want to meet new people, there are many other ways (and many other places) to do so.

…

“ Earlier this month, a revised ordinance to extend the period of alcohol consumption ban on certain streets from specific periods to year-round was implemented. Posters, written in Japanese and English, saying "No Events for Halloween on Shibuya Streets" and "No Drinking on the Street" were visible near the iconic crossing after complaints were raised against littering and noise from big crowds during the Halloween period in recent years. “—Well done, Shibuya.

A singles night where guys and gals stay sober, anything wrong with that? whilst listening to the actual residents, many ticks from me

If the kids want to party, they’ll find a way…

@NOMINATION

I was thinking something similar; if they want people to stay away, advertise it as a "meet a mate" night.

The heart in the word NO was a nice touch. Just imagine yourself sitting in the meeting that ran with it. It’s everything you need to know about the J way.

No is love…

someone will figure it out, eventually. The ghosts of Halloween.

It's a mystery to me why all the fuss about not having gobs of people drunk on the streets is a bad thing. There are parties that can be organized by the people, perhaps with friends in someone's house. There are other options like having dates. This is not a problem in the US. This is Japan, however, and there must have been problems of some kind with the drunks out on the streets. I rarely see the same thing in the US except for planned and reasonable events in places like in New York. tamanegi has some very good options above.

To quote:

"Every picture tells a story” Is an idiom that means the outcome of a situation is clear from the way something or someone looks.

The lack of any alternative manageable/managerial forethought, a meandering loitering crowd with nothing to do and frankly nowhere to go, to enjoy the festive season.

With, I suggest money burning a hole in their pockets.

The “poster” a stark soulless reminder of a failure to offer smart leadership solutions.

Destination event is a challenge needing community support planning, including close participation from business community, access to open Park spaces close by essential.

A depressing message, a missed opportunity from a rather inept clueless mayor of Tokyo's Shibuya ward, Ken Hasebe.

I love how even the crotchety warning sign has hearts and comic sans.

Japan has lost its way. Everything that was great about Japan is slowly coming to an end.

On the same scale, with the necessary infrastructure to guarantee safety? not really easy nor cheap.

Hold it in yoyogi park. People acting like there have never been any events in tokyo before.

'No Fun' is missing from that sign.

Not that the locals can read the English anyway.

Good. Not part of Japanese culture.

The lack of any alternative manageable/managerial forethought, a meandering loitering crowd with nothing to do and frankly nowhere to go, to enjoy the festive season.

This is an easy, safe and convenient alternative for the locals, there are plenty of places to go in Shibuya to celebrate, that are much better controlled, safer and that leave a lot more of profit for the locals. What you are complaining about is why not choose the alternative that you like, which is not a real criticism.

No missed opportunities here, easily seen when there are no other places in the whole Tokyo metropolitan area that want to hold the event.

Hold it in yoyogi park. People acting like there have never been any events in tokyo before.

On the same scale? no, there has never been a similar event as the biggest crowds in Shibuya on Halloween, not all events are the same, people behave very differently in a festival centered on fireworks or local dishes, you can of course try to convince the people responsible for Yoyogi to raise their hands, but it is very unlikely they will do it.

virusrex, the "optics" from the photo above are appallingly negative.

Mayor of Tokyo's Shibuya ward, Ken Hasebe needs to U turn, humbly accept that sometimes paranoia can cloud one judgement to the extent that presents a mentally distorted Shibuya drowning/choking in a world drunkenness amongst clouds of cigarette smoke.

Ken Hasebe must immediately accept that those young people, the next generation, I suggest could well determine focus a desperately needed strategy to combat the economic ravages of depopulation.

So open the Parks, invest in providing, fully wholeheartedly embracing investing organizing an awe inspiring Halloween festive spectacle.

Ken Hasebe, remove the posters, pick out a Halloween costume, get down to Shibuya and join in.

virusrex, the "optics" from the photo above are appallingly negative.

For you that would like to impose the will of the visitors over the will of the locals, for anybody that do not have that biased view the optics can very well represent a problem that required drastic measures to be solved.

Mayor of Tokyo's Shibuya ward, Ken Hasebe needs to U turn, humbly accept that sometimes paranoia can cloud one judgement to the extent that presents a mentally distorted Shibuya drowning/choking in a world drunkenness amongst clouds of cigarette smoke.

Based on what exactly? your personal opinion? that is no argument, the locals say the previous situation was problematic and had no tolerance for it continuing, so their representatives took measures to correct that situation, that you need to exaggerate in order to defend thinking otherwise clearly points out to a complete lack of actual arguments against the measures.

So open the Parks, invest in providing, fully wholeheartedly embracing investing organizing an awe inspiring Halloween festive spectacle.

Again, just because you would like them to? you are free to try to convince the locals that their problems are not real and that you personally think they would profit a lot from letting others impose their way of having fun, but unless you can actually prove it with actual evidence (not just a baseless opinion) and make the point that this supposed profit is enough to force them to make something they are not interested in then the only actual option is to accept they can decide what to allow or not in their ward.

So basically those who are against these meassures are, either do not reside/work in the area and/or are big fans of Anarchy....

perhaps with friends in someone's house

Won't work for the same reason the authorities are siding with the "locals" in the first place. In fact, it 's the same reason as many other things foreigners don't love about Japanese culture - such as paternity leave or overtime.

Your party's noise will carry to the neighbors, and Japanese prioritize the Duty to Refrain way too much over the Duty to Suffer. The Japanese literally prefer no one to have fun than for some mutual tolerance of the side effects of each other's fun.

As a Japanese, I don't see Tokyo as a part of Japan. Lots of people are littering, making a noise at late night. I'm devastated.

"Posters, written in Japanese and English, saying "No Events for Halloween on Shibuya Streets" and "No Drinking on the Street" were visible near the iconic crossing after complaints were raised against littering and noise from big crowds during the Halloween period in recent years."

Such complainers were noted as saying:

Complainer 1: "Look, I know it's a business district and I will have gone home by the time partying starts, but I don't like the idea of there being noise, even if I can't hear it!"

Complainer 2: "As a salaryman I work incredibly hard. I don't appreciate there being no spots I can pass out on the street after drinking for hours in that area. Foreigners shouldn't be allowed."

Complainer 3: "I was in my office and over the noise of revalry I could barely hear what all the election cars were saying, or what others with megaphones making stump speeches were promising! I know Hallowe'en isn't until this weekend, but still, there was noise!"

Complainer 4: "I can't believe we can't see the statue of our beloved Hachiko-sama thanks to those selfish costumed people and their drunken behaviour! Especially with the cute masks people put on Hachiko-sama to protect from Covid! That is a really great costu -- err.... Anyway, it's true I live in Osaka and have never been to that area, but just the idea! I saw the movie, though. It moved me!"

Complainer 5 (visibly drunk): "Issss true -- hiccup -- these darn party-goers ruin... (vomits on street) everssshing! Now I have to walk 100 meters to get more... (vomits again) beer. Idiots! They don't even pick up their garbage (tosses cigarette butt in the street, vomits again)."