With Halloween just a couple of days away and events related to the holiday being canceled because of the pandemic, the idea of celebrating "Halloween at home," or enjoying the ghostly season without leaving the house, is expected to spread.
In previous years, the area around JR Shibuya Station was usually packed with young people in costume as well as non-costumed people, creating confusion. This year, Tokyo's Shibuya Ward Office asked the public to refrain from going to the area for Halloween to avoid the Three Cs -- closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. However, the Metropolitan Police Department is still preparing for potential crowds since it is difficult to gauge how big the turnout will be this year.
-- Feeling connected through technology
A 20-year-old vocational student said in previous years, she would dress up for Halloween and go out, but this year, she's worried about the coronavirus and wants to avoid crowds.
She bought paper napkins with ghosts on it at the daily goods store Loft in Shibuya and said she is looking forward to decorating her home and enjoying Halloween with two of her friends, who will all wear masks except when eating.
At Loft, Halloween goods such as stickers or hair accessories are popular this year, rather than an entire costume.
"It seems like more people are dressing up and doing their make up this year just to take photos and post them on social media or share them with friends," said Yui Takahashi, 32, who is in charge of public relations at Loft.
In 2019, about 120,000 people gathered in Kawasaki to go to the Kawasaki Halloween festival, but a parade and other events related to the festival were canceled this year out of concern over the infection spreading.
Instead of having an in-person event, the festival organizers will announce on its website on Saturday the results of an online Halloween masquerade contest, which received about 180 entries. An official of the host organization said he hopes the event will allow many people to feel connected.
The annual Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival, which draws more than 20,000 anime and other cosplayers every year, was also canceled. Instead, a cosplay contest will be held on a streaming site on Saturday and people can vote for their favorite.
-- Shibuya still on alert
"I'll wear a mask when I go to Shibuya," "Is it so wrong to want to have fun on Halloween?" are a couple of the messages that were posted on social media after Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasebe, 48, urged people to refrain from going to the entertainment area for Halloween at a press conference on Oct. 22.
In 2018, a small truck became surrounded by a crowd of drunk people on Halloween in Shibuya and it was overturned.
In 2019, nine people were arrested in Shibuya on suspicion of groping and assault. Signs and windows of nearby stores were also damaged.
The ward will ban drinking on the streets around the station from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 and have already asked nearby shops to stop selling alcohol on the night of Oct. 31.
Temporary bathrooms and changing facilities, which had been set up for Halloween in previous years, will not be available this year.
Even with these measures, 100 private security guards will still be deployed to prevent people from stopping to gather in the streets, especially around the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing near the station.
The MPD will have riot police stationed nearby and will deploy them along with "DJ Police" officers, who are given the nickname because of their witty instructions, to ask crowds to walk slowly in case people begin to gather and cause confusion or the sidewalks become too crowded, forcing people to walk in the street.
Instead of going to the Shibuya area in-person, the ward office invites the public to visit a virtual space set up by a private company, allowing visitors to enjoy walking in Shibuya using their avatars on their smartphones or computers. This virtual space also allows participants to interact with each other online.
Toshiyuki Ono, director of the Shibuya Center-gai shopping street promotion association, 79, said people still might gather in Shibuya even though they were asked to refrain from doing so.
"Customers are finally starting to return to the shopping street, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, so I don't want a cluster infection happening in town right now," he said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
