From our other sites
The story
For the first time in five years, Halloween fell on a weekend in Shibuya, and the area around Shibuya Station was packed with costumed crowds as the Metropolitan Police Department’s “DJ Police” and numerous other officers worked to keep traffic moving. Shibuya Ward has enforced an ordinance since June imposing a 2,000 yen fine for littering, and on this day nearly double the usual number of patrol staff — about 40 — were out enforcing it. On 5ch threads, opinions split: some were charmed by small children in costumes, others felt uneasy about adults causing a ruckus, and the debate extended to whether imported, commercialized events like Halloween and ehou-maki (lucky-direction sushi rolls) should even exist.
On the night of the 31st, Halloween itself, the area around Shibuya Station in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward was packed with costumed crowds. This is the first time in five years that the holiday has fallen on a weekend. Shibuya Ward hung banners reading “GOODBYE BAD HALLOWEEN” around Center Gai, calling on visitors to avoid nuisance behavior such as drinking and smoking in the street.
Near the scramble crossing in front of Shibuya Station, from around 6 p.m. onward, many people were seen dressed as characters or taking photos on their smartphones. The Metropolitan Police Department deployed its “DJ Police” along with numerous other officers to keep the crowd moving.
Since June, Shibuya Ward has imposed a 2,000 yen fine for littering under a local ordinance. On this day, around 40 patrol staff — more than usual — were out collecting fines.
Source: yomiuri.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I live in an upscale residential area of Tokyo, and the kids walking around dressed like little wizards are adorable. Just watching them warms my heart.
You're using 'frog in a well' wrong.
Cracking down on it like that is the height of stupidity.
Zazard, Zazard, Skurono, Ronosuk
Flames of hell burning in the depths of pitch-black darkness,
Become my blade and destroy my foes!
Venom? …I wonder if that band's still around.
That's 'Venon' — I still remember it perfectly, just like the revival spell from Dragon Quest II.
> the 'original'(?) Halloween
That's just the American commercial-event style — there's no way that's the 'original' form.
It's the opposite — adults doing it is what's gone too far.
Re: #22
Well, maybe in Japan turning it into a cosplay festival works too? Right?
Re: #27
It's starting to feel like a Christmas cake (past its prime) at this point, since it's only a limited-time thing.
If we're talking 'original,' it's a Celtic end-of-harvest festival — carving faces into turnips, not pumpkins — and praying to get through the harsh winter safely. Basically like Obon (Japan's festival honoring ancestral spirits).
Japan's an 'anything goes' kind of place, so it feels a little late to say that now.
Christmas included, they're both just commercial events — nothing wrong with that.
Halloween
Ehou-maki (lucky-direction sushi rolls)
And…?
One vote for Valentine's Day.
Weddings and funerals — way too expensive.
Beaujolais Nouveau release day? Maybe we don't need the Hakone Ekiden relay either. Year-end/New Year holidays should just be Dec 30 to Jan 2 — last workday Dec 29, back to work Jan 3.
It's the 2022 accident in Korea, right? Shibuya Ward was still hyping up Halloween back in 2019 too.
2019:
https://imgur.com/1FMi3bw.jpg
2023:
https://imgur.com/dWxbbd0.jpg
The one in Itaewon, Seoul… that was the massive crowd crush, right?
When it was brought into Japan as a commercial event, it got marketed toward adults with money to spend — that's how it ended up this way.
Technically, even in the original Western version, adults do take part. It's more that they tend to decorate their houses with pumpkin motifs, though. I guess the image is something like putting up New Year's decorations.
Easter already flopped.
Christmas markets seem to be gradually catching on, but Oktoberfest hasn't spread — the beer and snacks are way too expensive.
Apparently even in America it only started as a commercial event around the 1950s.
(;゚Д゚) That's pretty recent, huh. I thought it was older, lol.
The origin of this is the same as ehou-maki.
Wait, it's got a risqué origin?!
(;゚Д゚) I see, lol. Ehou-maki really is a mystery to me. Guess it does help you save on food money by buying the unsold leftovers cheap.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
“DJ Police” refers to a Metropolitan Police Department crowd-control technique that became famous in Shibuya during the 2013 World Cup qualifier celebrations, and has since become the standard response for Halloween and other large-scale events. Shibuya Ward’s ordinance imposing a 2,000 yen fine for littering has been in effect since June this year, which is why around 40 patrol staff — more than usual — were deployed on this day. Opinion in the thread split over how to judge “adults causing a ruckus in costume” itself: comments were largely sympathetic toward children’s costumes, while views diverged on the commercialization of the event overall. Note that post #88 cites the 2018 incident involving a smashed mini-truck as the turning point for Shibuya’s tightened regulations, but as post #107 points out, there’s also a view that crowd-control measures in Japan only became serious after the 2022 crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul — so the exact dates and sequence of events are subject to differing accounts.
*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Halloween Falls on a Weekend for the First Time in 5 Years, Shibuya Station Area Packed with Costumed Crowds… “DJ Police” Deployed.”
Leave a Reply