Every year, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo turns into a huge 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.
Knowing that this unofficial outdoor event becomes crowded and rowdier every year, Shibuya ward mayor Ken Hasebe urged in order to nearby stores in the area to suspended selling alcoholic drinks in glass containers while this event is ongoing. He also requested attendees in the event to behave themselves and go home on the last train of the day.
Sadly, it appears that people had too much fun during the Halloween party as local police received a lot of reports of bad behavior on Saturday. A majority of the reports were related to groping, upskirt photography, and attendees topping a truck in the area. This event absolutely revealed the worst of people as social media posts during the weekend shows:
Local police immediately went to the area that weekend to deal with an assault.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpedhetBUm6
Twitter user @yuruhuwa_kdenpa posted a video of a man on his knees photographing the thighs of women in short skirts.
ずっとパンツ撮ってるおじいちゃんを見つけて草
#渋谷ハロウィン pic.twitter.com/D0CM6Ky2CZ
— ゆるふわ怪電波☆埼玉 (@yuruhuwa_kdenpa) October 27, 2018
The worst of it all was when police received a report of a group of attendees climbing into the back of a kei truck which was then later being toppled over. It was revealed that the majority of the people doing these unnecessary actions were “young people and foreigners”.
https://twitter.com/enbeyond1/status/1056494611571499008
日本終わりやな、もう…
暴徒と化した渋谷ハロウィン民、駐車されていた車を集団人力でひっくり返してウェエエエエエイhttps://t.co/WUoUdxzBU0 pic.twitter.com/OAEqffbu8C
— ネット・アイドル界の重鎮だんごむしさん☀ (@sengodebu) October 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/kasutaro_naver/status/1056437170267840512
Some locals and even foreigners tried to stop the truck to be toppled over but sadly it didn’t go well as planned. Eyewitnesses of the incident said that the owner of the truck decided to escape his vehicle after realizing that the crowd where he was being surrounded was just too much. The driver filed a damage report stating the roof of the truck was dented and the windows were smashed. Police immediately arrived at the scene after the truck was toppled.
軽トラ横倒しって…普通に犯罪じゃん#渋谷ハロウィン2018 pic.twitter.com/2Rz3dS20Zv
— BT✟ (@yaminabetty) October 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/sinrinet/status/1056214645634002944
A lot of things happened along Shibuya during that weekend evening as modified cars made its way into a streets playing loud music causing the street areas to have impromptu dance parties. Due to the massive volumes, people who were already going to call it day couldn’t sleep due to the so much noise outside.
https://twitter.com/hid_shin/status/1056269194944102400
https://twitter.com/atodpz/status/1056455768537366528
https://twitter.com/asawq2615/status/1056185045524738048
And also, at the top of the private karaoke rooms, there was this:
https://twitter.com/traumseeker/status/1056512766247297024
Angry confrontations between the partying crowd and the local police also ensued. Despite the abuse being targetted to them, the officers retreated to their car without getting violent and making arrests. They were completely outnumbered.
パリピ暴れすぎwwwwwww#渋谷ハロウィン
https://t.co/Oto2dglfAm— ツイチューブ TwiTube (@Twitube_123) October 28, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpdMVvhAHP3/?utm_source=ig_embed
In a statement that he made last week, Mayor Hasebe is now considering making formal and legal regulations and restrictions in Shibuya’s Halloween party in the future hoping that would make the place fun and safe for everyone.
With the amount of unruly and unacceptable behavior that happened that weekend, it’s inevitable that the local government will be making some changes to make sure nothing like this will happen again.
Image credits: xihirosuke (Instagram)
Sources: NHK News, SoraNews24, and Togetter
