Shibuya Crossing Heavily Policed on Halloween Night

Before the pandemic, Shibuya Scramble / Crossroads, was the place to go for Halloween. The pandemic has long since ended, but unfortunately - and somewhat understandably - Shibuya Scramble Halloween has never really come back. They haven't let it.

People still gather there, but authorities now actively police the area and take measures such as fencing off the famous Hachiko statue. The truth is that even before the pandemic, they had already started trying to deter people from gathering following an incident in 2018 in which revelers overturned a truck. The tragedy in South Korea at Halloween in 2022 only reinforced the authorities already firmly held belief that Halloween celebrations in Shibuya had gotten out of hand.

The photo above shows Shibuya Crossing live on television tonight. You can hopefully see that the police use tape barriers to keep the crowds contained, preventing people from spilling out onto the crossing itself as they did in the past. It's certainly a far cry from the Shibuya Halloween of old. While some people will miss the atmosphere, it's hard to argue with the authorities' efforts to keep one of the world's busiest junctions safe.