On the weekend just before Halloween, Shibuya, Tokyo, was overflowing with people dressed up in fancy dress. There was no end to the number of “drunks” falling asleep on the streets, and there was also a string of assaults.
■Shibuya Halloween “crowded”, with no restrictions for the first time in three years.
People getting into fights. People sleeping on the streets. People being transported. People dancing loudly. We covered the chaos of Shibuya on the weekend just before Halloween.
Security guard: ‘We are very busy at the moment, please proceed without stopping.’
For the first time in three years, Halloween was the first time in three years that there were no restrictions on behaviour, and the streets of Shibuya were jam-packed with people. Many cosplayers and foreigners were also seen.
■”You bastard!” An angry shout at a security guard… and a police officer stops him.
Trouble broke out at the scramble crossing.
A man was surrounded by police officers on the footpath section of the scramble intersection shortly after 9pm.
Young man: ‘Hey! Hey!”
Several police officers stop the youths from picking a fight with the security guards.
Young man: ‘Come on! You bastard! Hey, come on, you bastard!”
The youth continues to provoke the security guard.
Young man: ‘You’re the idiot! You idiot!”
In the end, the police officer separated the two and the incident did not escalate into violence.
■’He hit me with a goo’ – drunkenness caution turned against him… assault.
On the street in front of the club, a young man was also surrounded by a large number of police officers. What exactly happened?
Young man’s friend: ‘Before we went in (to the club), the security people put their hands on us and it was like a skirmish.’ ‘(Q. Was your friend drinking a lot?) Yes, they did. We drank about 30 glasses of sake.”
Meanwhile, a club official spoke as follows.
Club official: ‘We forbade people to stop and drink near the entrance outside the club. When I warned him about it, he hit me with a goo.’ ‘(Q. Where?) In the face. I got hit a few times.”
A skirmish broke out between the excited youth and club officials, and the shop called the police. Police officers rush to the scene, but the excitement has not abated.
Police officer: ‘Don’t move! Don’t move!”
The young man was put in a police car, but was taken away, leaving behind a discarded comment.
Young man: ‘Hey, the Japanese police are finished! Take care of everyone!”
Foreigners also taken away by police officers “wrapped in cloth”.
Is this foreign man drunk? He is surrounded by police officers.
The policeman then pulls out a cloth-like object from his patrol car. The man is wrapped in the cloth and taken away in the police car.
■”Explosion dance” – police officers warned him… but the sound of the explosion remained.
Loud music is played from the speakers in the car. For those who are not involved, it’s just noise.
However, the people dance as if they don’t care about such things. A police officer comes and warns them to stop.
The young people who were warned did not stop the music and left the scene.
■Continued ‘street drinking’, litter… and unauthorised sales.
The most conspicuous was drinking on the streets. Shibuya Ward bans drinking on the streets and in parks around Shibuya Station from 6pm to 5am the following day during Halloween, but drinking was seen there… and here… too.
Furthermore, convenience stores and other shops in the area have been asked to cooperate in refraining from selling alcohol, but shops selling alcohol on the streets without permission have also appeared.
Moreover, empty cans and bottles were left unattended. They were scattered everywhere.
These rubbish was picked up by young volunteers.
■Drunken people” everywhere… “sleeping on the street”, some taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
At 1am, the shutters of Shibuya station began to come down. This meant that the last train had completely run out, and it was no longer possible to take the train home.
At this time of night, the number of drunken people increases. Drunken people are lying on the ground all over the city.
Police officer: ‘Wake up, wake up’
Men who were sleeping are being woken up by police officers. Some of the men, who have been ruffled and have had too much to drink, have been taken to hospital.
The man has fallen asleep completely on his side. We then spoke to the man who had woken up.
Man: “(Q. Can you take a taxi home?) I was thinking of sleeping somewhere” and “(Q. Did you drink a lot of alcohol?) Yes, I did. I drank a lot.”
■ ‘Ten cans of shochu’, ‘Good luck with the pick-up’, and back and forth.
Around 5:00 am, there is a man lying on the street.
The man is woken up by his friend and tells the following story.
Man: “(Q. Did you drink a lot of alcohol?) I drank a great deal’, (q. How much?) If it’s canned shochu, about 10 long ones. I felt like this is what happened when I thought everyone was trying hard to pick up women.”
■Men in “down on their knees” poses, no response when approached…
Many people were waiting for the first train to leave in front of Shibuya station.
In the morning, the first train started moving at Shibuya station. Near the station entrance, there was a man who fell asleep as if he was on his knees saying “I’m sorry”.
A staff member who couldn’t bear to look at him called out to him, but he didn’t move at all, so two staff members held him by the shoulders and he started his journey home.
Hisayuki Ono, chairman of the Shibuya Centre Shopping Street Promotion Association: ‘I hope the explosion of young people doesn’t cause a commotion. All this will have to be welcomed on the day. As for the town’s attitude, our sincere wish is for people to enjoy themselves with morals.”
Today is Halloween on a weekday, but Shibuya will be overflowing with young people again this evening. I hope that no incidents or accidents will occur.
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