The mayors of Tokyo’s Shibuya and Shinjuku wards, which are expected to attract large number of people ahead of Halloween, held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan on October 7.
Both wards, which are home to some of Japan’s busiest bustling streets, have enacted bylaws banning alcohol consumption on the streets, as there have been a number of drinking problems. They expressed the idea of a coordinated countermeasure and called on the public to spend time following the rules.
Shibuya ward enacted a revised ordinance this month that bans street drinking in the vicinity of Shibuya Station from 6 PM to 5 AM the following morning, all year round. On the other hand, Shinjuku ward enforced an ordinance in June, banning street drinking in the Kabukicho area from 5 PM on October 31 to 5 AM the following day. There are no penalties for either.
Ken Hasebe, mayor of Shibuya, pointed out that there is environmental damage, such as noise triggered by street drinking and littering. Shinjuku Mayor, Kenichi Yoshizumi also said that accidents and fights occur when people get together to drink and crowd together. He stressed that Shinjuku refuses to allow people to drink on the streets.
On Halloween last year, Shibuya ward implemented measures to control the flow of people, including requesting shops to refrain from selling alcohol. While, according to Shinjuku ward, this had an impact on Kabukicho area, causing an increase in crowds and a large amount of rubbish to be scattered.
Even if measures are taken in both wards, there is a risk that people would flow to busy areas outside the wards, such as Shimokitazawa and Roppongi. It would be necessary to take the same measures in all of Tokyo at once, but this may be difficult. In addition to the ordinances, experts say that leaflets written in multiple languages could be distributed and officers and other personnel who can speak foreign languages could be deployed.
