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Shibuya's Halloween crowds bring 394 fines despite tighter controls

A Japanese television report contrasts Ikebukuro's organized cosplay festival with congested crossings, littering patrols and blocked restaurant entrances in Shibuya.

Channel: ANNnewsCH ·

JapanStory of November 2, 2026Trari Newsroom

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渋谷ハロウィン厳戒態勢　爆音・ポイ捨て迷惑行為続出　2000円過料処分394件【もっと知りたい！】【グッド！モーニング】(2026年11月1日)

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:19Ikebukuro's organized cosplay festival attracts elaborate costumes and participants travelling from other Japanese cities.
1:46Shibuya's campaign identifies street smoking, street drinking and littering as prohibited behavior.
2:08A patrol officer collects a littering penalty; the report gives a combined total of 394 smoking and littering fines.
3:08Police restrict vehicle access and use barriers to create one-way pedestrian movement on Center Street.
3:41Officers intervene when people dance on a crossing; later footage shows obstructive photo gatherings and a revving car.
5:35Costumed visitors head for the last trains, with one describing plans to attend a wedding the next day.

One cosplayer took the bullet train to Tokyo rather than risk an elaborate wig collapsing on a flight. Across the city, police were trying to keep costumed crowds moving through Shibuya's streets.

Japan's TV Asahi news channel, ANNnewsCH, follows both sides of Halloween: an organized cosplay festival in Ikebukuro and a heavily policed night in Shibuya, where the broadcaster reports 394 fines for street smoking and littering.

The penalties were overwhelmingly for smoking: 347 cases, compared with 47 for littering. The report says Shibuya began collecting a 2,000-yen administrative penalty for littering in June. Its camera follows a patrol officer demanding payment after witnessing someone discard rubbish; the man disputes that he threw it away.

Authorities had anticipated larger crowds because Halloween fell on a Saturday. Several hundred police officers were deployed, according to the report, including officers using loudspeakers to direct pedestrians. Cones restricted vehicle access around the scramble crossing, while barriers made Center Street one-way for people on foot.

The footage shows the limits of those precautions. A group carries loud music through the crowd. People stop to dance on a crossing until an officer intervenes. By late evening, police use yellow tape to channel pedestrians across the road.

Elsewhere, costume photography draws clusters of spectators, sometimes blocking restaurant entrances. A car revs outside a police box and leaves a cloud of white exhaust as officers approach.

Ikebukuro's festival offers a different setting: a red carpet, character costumes and participants who have travelled from Osaka and Fukuoka. The report closes back in Shibuya, with people still in costume hurrying for the last trains. One tells the reporter that the following day's plans include a friend's wedding.

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