Tight crowd management shall be in place in Tokyo’s Shibuya and Shinjuku districts on Friday, with authorities bracing for giant numbers of holiday makers on Halloween night time, although a softer method is being taken than in earlier years.
Under the slogan “Stop troublesome Halloween,” round 125 safety personnel shall be deployed throughout 10 places in Shibuya from 7 p.m. Friday to five a.m. Saturday. The managed areas will embody the well-known Hachiko canine statue, which is able to stay lined till Saturday morning.
Shibuya Ward’s municipal authorities can even proceed to implement a ban on public alcohol consumption, efficient day by day from 6 p.m. to five a.m. in areas surrounding JR and Keio Shibuya stations, together with the district’s iconic scramble crossing.
However, this yr’s rhetoric to forestall overcrowding has been noticeably softer in comparison with the final two years, when Shibuya’s mayor explicitly urged individuals to not go to.
Signs have been put up in Tokyo’s Shibuya district forward of Halloween. Image: Avery Fane
“We are not trying to stop Halloween,” Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe stated in a current press convention, including that you will need to distinguish between a “good Halloween” and a “bad Halloween.”
Shinjuku Ward can even implement related restrictions, banning public alcohol consumption across the Kabukicho space from 5 p.m. Friday to five a.m. Saturday, a measure that started final yr for the Halloween interval.
Neither of the consuming bans carry any type of penalty.
Shibuya can even implement site visitors management measures from 4 p.m. Friday, proscribing automobile entry in areas across the station. In addition, all parking meters close to Shibuya Station shall be suspended for your complete day and can’t be used.
The tight controls are in response to the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul that killed greater than 150 individuals when tens of 1000’s gathered to have a good time the primary Halloween since COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted.
© KYODO