Tokyo’s Shibuya, Shinjuku join hands to curb street drinking over Halloween period

TOKYO, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — The mayors of Tokyo’s Shibuya and Shinjuku wards on Monday said they will work together to curb street drinking and rowdiness during this year’s Halloween period amid fears of overcrowding.
Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe, and Kenichi Yoshizumi, mayor of adjacent Shinjuku ward, made the joint appeal at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.
“Drinking on the street has led to environmental damage including loud noise and littering,” Hasebe said, while Yoshizumi said, “Accidents and fights occur when people gather on the street and drink.”
Shibuya has been a highly popular destination for Halloween revelers to mark the celebration on and around Oct. 31. But Hasebe said he recognized the need to collaborate with Shinjuku as measures Shibuya took last year to dissuade partygoers “had an impact on Shinjuku, our neighbor.”
During last year’s Halloween, when Shibuya ward made repeated calls to urge people to refrain from coming to the town, a large number of visitors flowed into Shinjuku’s Kabukicho entertainment and red-light district.
“We thought, if we let this go, people are going to say, ‘Okay, it’s not allowed in Shibuya, but we can do it in Shinjuku.’ So for that not to happen we have decided to do this, this year,” Yoshizumi said, referring to a newly introduced ban on alcohol consumption during this Halloween in and around the Kabukicho area.
Shibuya ward already expanded the alcohol consumption ban on certain streets from specific periods, such as Halloween and the New Year holiday, to all year round from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning in a bid to curb worsening littering and noise from large crowds.
Street drinking will be prohibited in areas around the Kabukicho district, effective for 12 hours starting at 5 p.m. on Oct. 31. ■