I saw today that Shibuya decided to ban public drinking year-round, which goes against Japan’s general acceptance of it. In Japan, people drink alco

Shibuya Bans Public Drinking

submited by

Style Pass

2024-09-29 15:30:04

I saw today that Shibuya decided to ban public drinking year-round, which goes against Japan’s general acceptance of it. In Japan, people drink alcohol outside convenience stores, in parks, and sometimes even on the train. But drinking during Halloween in Shibuya supposedly has become a “problem.”

For some reason, Shibuya doesn’t like Halloween and actively tries to discourage . They rent ad space to post warnings telling people not to come to Shibuya for Halloween.

However, this is a little weird given Japan’s numerous local festivals that occur annually in cities around the country. Streets are often closed off for yatai (small shops), the procession of mikoshi (portable shrines), and yeah, drinking.

These festivals are absolutely noisy and lively, but everyone likes them! Even if the streets are closed off, they’re like… a thing! Everyone just accepts it.

Yet Halloween is treated differently, despite becoming its own tradition here. And I just wonder why Shibuya sees it as a problem. (I should also note that Shinjuku is now also banning public drinking around Halloween, but not year-round like Shibuya.)