Shibuya Halloween Passes Without Major Trouble as Ward Issues 394 Fines

Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (file photo, Oct. 31, 2017). Halloween crowds at the Shibuya scramble crossing.

Shibuya Halloween drew dense crowds to central Tokyo on Saturday night, Oct. 31, the first time in six years the holiday fell on a Saturday, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said it had confirmed no major trouble as of early Sunday, NHK reported at 6:15 a.m. Nov. 1. Shibuya Ward officials issued 394 fines for street smoking and littering over the course of Oct. 31, broadcaster ANN reported.

The outcome follows a week of new limits in the district, which TBR described in its Saturday preview of Shibuya’s Halloween curbs. Police and ward officials kept crowds moving through the night, and national broadcasters TBS and Nippon TV each reported that there had been no major disorder.

Fines and police in Shibuya on Halloween night

The ward has collected a 2,000-yen fine for littering since June, ANN said in a report carried by Yahoo Japan. Its tally of 394 penalties covers street smoking and littering on Oct. 31 alone. Shibuya ran the campaign under the slogan “GOODBYE BAD HALLOWEEN” and listed smoking, drinking and littering on the street as banned.

About 4 p.m., officers placed traffic cones to keep vehicles out of the scramble crossing, and Center-Gai, the main shopping street, was fenced into one-way foot traffic, ANN reported. After 9 p.m. the street was so packed that people could not see past the crowd around them. Shortly before 10 p.m., police roped off the crossing with yellow tape and guided pedestrians across in groups.

Nippon TV said more than 100 private security guards were posted around Shibuya Station alongside the department’s loudspeaker-equipped “DJ Police.” One visitor from the United States told the network that the crowd seemed smaller than before but that the area was “still lively, so I’m happy” (translated from Japanese).

What cameras caught: dancing, revving and costumes

The night was not free of rule-breaking. ANN’s cameras recorded a person dropping litter, a group marching through Center-Gai with music blasting, and people who stopped mid-crossing to dance until officers stepped in. Two women fell while trying to cut across the crosswalk.

In front of a police box, a driver revved a car’s engine, filling the street with white exhaust as onlookers cheered; the car pulled away when officers ran toward it. Groups of people holding impromptu cosplay photo shoots partly blocked restaurant entrances. As the last trains approached, people in full costume ran for the station. One told ANN she had the next day off for a friend’s wedding.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, police carried out a sweep of illegally modified vehicles around Akihabara Station, TBS reported. TBS did not give a count of vehicles checked.

By the numbers: Tokyo’s Halloween weekend

ANN said Shibuya’s Halloween turnout peaked at about 40,000 in 2019 and had trended down since, and that this year’s Saturday date had raised the prospect of a larger crowd. Neither police nor the ward had released a 2026 crowd estimate or arrest figures as of Sunday.

Ikebukuro and Kabukicho draw crowds of their own

In Ikebukuro, in northwest Tokyo, anime and manga fans in costume filled the streets for the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival 2026, Kyodo News reported. The festival, launched in 2014, drew about 160,000 people over three days last year; ANN called it one of Japan’s largest Halloween events. Organizers’ participation rules require participants to change into costume in dressing rooms at the venue and bar arriving already dressed from home or a hotel.

“We are able to fully celebrate in a safe manner as operation rules are firmly implemented,” Natsu Iwasaki, 22, of Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, told Kyodo while dressed as a character from the anime “Gintama.”

In Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho entertainment district, officials patrolled holding signs that read “No drink on the street,” Kyodo said. In Shibuya, staff on Center-Gai gave instructions not to drink on the street in both Japanese and English.

Seoul marked its own subdued Halloween weekend; see TBR’s report on Itaewon’s crowd controls. Closer to home, read about Boston’s Spooky Streets block parties and Salem’s Halloween rules.

Sources

• NHK: Shibuya crowded on Halloween but “no major trouble,” police say (Japanese)
• ANN via Yahoo Japan: Shibuya on high alert; 394 fines for smoking and littering (Japanese)
• Nippon TV: Shibuya on alert with DJ Police and more than 100 guards (Japanese)
• Kyodo News: Tokyo celebrates Halloween as Shibuya, Kabukicho step up patrols

Additional sources

• TBS News Dig: Shibuya under alert with no major disorder; Akihabara vehicle sweep (Japanese)
• KAB (ANN affiliate): Shibuya Halloween report (Japanese)
• Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival 2026: participation rules