Halloween in Japan is super fun time of year! Originally a holiday celebrated more by expats has become something of an autumn festival in many areas around Japan.
On the weekend nearest Halloween, in Tokyo alone, Ningyocho and several other neighborhoods hold trick-or-treating events for children, drawing small crowds of excited kids.
But these organized events pale in comparison to Shibuya Halloween, which before Covid was expecting close to a million people to gather. So what to do and how to get your ghoul on in Tokyo’s iconic cosplay city? Read on!
Main image: PIXTA
1. Shibuya Halloween
Photo: PIXTA
For many young adults, Halloween is about having fun dressing up before meeting friends for drinks, clubbing, and snapping photos of everyone else in costume.
Each year, Shibuya becomes a magnet drawing huge crowds of giddy, costume-wearing people, many of whom are looking to participate in unofficial street parties and roam the area’s streets in search of fun. In 2022, there is no “official” Shibuya Halloween, though many will likely descend on Shibuya Crossing in costume.
Recent years have seen a variety of problems arise in the wake of Halloween, with huge amounts of trash generated, noise complaints, vandalism – and even the overturning of a car in 2018. Some international visitors have even mentioned that they thought it wouldn’t be much of a problem to get drunk and go crazy in Shibuya during Halloween.
For public safety reasons, this prompted the Shibuya City government to announce a ban on public drinking (including in parks and on streets) withinparticularn areas in Shibuya (shown below), which traditionally see a large number of partygoers.
Image © Shibuya City Office; English annotations added
For Halloween, the drinking ban will be in place on the following dates/times:
・Friday, October 28, 2022: 6:00 p.m. – Midnight
・Saturday, October 29, 2022: Midnight – 5:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. – Midnight
・Sunday, October 30, 2022: Midnight – 5:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. – Midnight
・Monday, October 31, 2022: Midnight – 5:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m. – Midnight
・Tuesday, November 1, 2022: Midnight – 5:00 a.m.
In Japan, convenience stores readily sell alcohol to those aged 20 and above, and drinking in public areas is generally acceptable, provided there is no nuisance to others. However, alcohol may not be available at shops in the prohibition zone, including convenience stores.
While this ban is aimed at preventing drinking in public, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and other shops within the outlined area are not prohibited from selling …
