Although the Tokyo police have not released the names of the people involved in a Halloween incident in Shibuya last year, police confirmed that the offenders included Japanese men from the Kanto region and foreigners from Britain, Belgium, and France, with ages ranging from teens to 30s. They also stated that an international student studying at Tokyo University was involved in the incident. Ten people have been charged with offenses relating to the event.
While going through security footage last year, police identified more than ten people who were involved in damaging a truck. Since the incident, they were able to arrest four individuals of which two of them were fined 100,000 yen (US$ 800) while the other two were not charged further.
Every year, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo turns into a massive street party for the weekend closest to Halloween in celebration of the spooky season. Both locals and foreign visitors come together in the venue in either scary Halloween costumes or cosplay.
As people visited Shibuya for this annual event, ward mayor Ken Hasebe requested nearby stores to suspend selling alcoholic drinks in glass containers while the event was ongoing. He also requested all attendees to behave themselves and go home on the last train of the day.
During last year’s Halloween party, local authorities received many reports of bad behavior on the first day of the Halloween weekend alone. The majority of these were related to groping, upskirt photography, and attendees toppling a truck. Some locals and foreigners tried to stop the toppling of the truck but sadly failed. Eyewitnesses said that the owner of the truck decided to escape his vehicle after realizing that the crowd was swarming around him. He filed a damage report stating the roof of the truck was dented and the windows were smashed.
Social media posts flooded in, recording various incidents that happened that day. Let’s hope that this year’s Shibuya Halloween party will be safer and no similar incidents will happen again.
Source: Sankei News, NHK News , Hachima Kiko
