Overview

• Shibuya, a district in Tokyo known for its vibrant Halloween celebrations, is trying to deter people from participating this year by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an informational campaign.
• The district's decision is heavily influenced by the devastating crush in Seoul's Itaewon district during Halloween 2022, where nearly 160 people died, along with its own past incidents during Halloween, such as a stabbing event in 2019.
• The popularity of Halloween in Japan is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning to take off around 2011, when young adults and university students started to congregate in massive numbers in places like Shibuya for the event.
• The Mayor of Shibuya, Ken Hasebe, says the quality of the event has declined, citing the rise of attendees, resulting in bad press, and a shift towards more onlookers rather than costume-dressed participants.
• Hasebe's eagerness to manage the crowd size this year is also attributed to the return of foreign tourists in the wake of the pandemic, potentially increasing the number of attendees and further escalating safety concerns.