Authorities in one of Tokyo’s liveliest neighbourhoods are pleading with revellers to stay away during Halloween, fearing a repeat of last year’s deadly crowd crush in the Itaewon district of Seoul.
Ken Hasebe, the mayor of Shibuya – a popular destination for young Japanese and foreign tourists – said partygoers hoping to mark the celebration in the area on and around 31 October would be disappointed.
“We are extremely concerned that there could be a repeat of the Itaewon tragedy,” Hasebe said, referring to the crowd crush during last October’s festivities, in which more than 150 died. “Until last year, we just asked people to behave themselves at Halloween, but this year we are being bolder and saying to people, please don’t come.”
The victims in Itaewon, mostly young people, were among an estimated 100,000 people who flocked to the nightlife district to celebrate the first post-pandemic Halloween.
South Korean law enforcement officials have conceded that there was insufficient safety planning, and opposition politicians have accused the government of not taking responsibility for the disaster.
The end of Covid travel restrictions has seen an explosion in the number of visitors to Japan, drawn to Shibuya by its nightlife, shopping and the Instagram potential of the Hachiko statue and the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing. Footfall in the area around Shibuya station has returned to pre-pandemic levels since measures were lifted earlier this year.
Prof Katsuhiro Nishinari, an expert in crowd management at the University of Tokyo, said the unofficial nature of the annual Halloween celebrations in Shibuya made it difficult for authorities to plan ahead.
“The main concern is who would be responsible if an accident happened,” Nishinari said, adding that some stores could be reluctant to miss out on a profitable few days. “Stakeholders need to consider whether priority should be given to safety or making money. Safety should come first, of course, but a lot of local businesses will put profits first.”
Hasebe said on Thursday: “The streets of Shibuya are not Halloween party venues. To prevent trouble and potential disasters from happening, we’re asking tourists to refrain from coming during the Halloween period.
“If people think they can come to Shibuya to enjoy themselves at Halloween … well, they won’t have much fun.”
According to the densely populated special ward – home to more than 220,000 people – damage caused by overtourism has “become serious, resulting in property damage caused by drinking in the street, altercations with local residents, and littering of large amounts of empty cans and bottles”.
“Every year during Halloween, the area around Shibuya station becomes so crowded that it is nearly impossible to move,” it said in a statement.
To deter crowds, the local government has banned drinking in the street near the main railway station between 6pm and 5am from 27-31 October. Dozens of stores have been asked not to sell alcohol during the period, Hasebe said.
The ward will also increase the number of police officers, private security guards and local officials present.
Overcrowding aside, recent Halloween gatherings in Shibuya have been blighted by reports of groping, pickpocketing, alcohol-fuelled fighting and upskirt photography, as well as mountains of litter.
“Overtourism is a problem in Japan, but the situation in Shibuya is much more serious than that,” Hasebe said. “As mayor, it pains me to tell people not to come, but we’re doing this to prioritise safety.”
An estimated 40,000 people gathered in Shibuya for Halloween in 2019 – the year before Covid-19 triggered restrictions on Tokyo’s nighttime economy – but officials fear the number of revellers could exceed 60,000 this year unless countermeasures are put in place.
Milad Haghani, a senior lecturer at the school of civil and environmental engineering of the University of New South Wales, said he shared concerns about unofficial gatherings, particularly those involving a potentially dangerous mix of alcohol and packed narrow streets.
“It is important to learn from tragedies such as Itaewon and come up with more effective preventive measures,” Haghani said. “But they should not be used as an excuse to cancel normal life and dissuade people from enjoying mass gatherings and the vibrancy of life that big cities have to offer.
“People get emotional and other benefits from them, and they add economic and cultural value to our lives.”
Hasebe said he was trying to appeal to people’s common sense. “We don’t want to overburden them with rules,” he said. “We’re saying that, yes, it’s OK to drink under the cherry blossoms during hanami, but not on a packed city street.”
