Many people associate Halloween with October events. And when they think of Halloween, some may associate it with the trash problem in Shibuya, which is in the news every year. Shibuya is facing some serious problems with the large amount of garbage that young people leave behind after gathering for Halloween.
Why do Japanese youth gather in Shibuya on Halloween and start making a big fuss about it? Let’s find out and talk about the reasons why this is happening.
Shibuya’s Trash Problem
According to various media reports, on Halloween, at the end of October, young people dressed in costumes gather in Shibuya, causing a commotion. Some people who went there seem to be so elated by the mood of the event called Halloween that they behave like mobs by overreacting. One of the most problematic issues is the problem of garbage left on the streets.
People who enjoy eating and drinking on the streets leave their garbage on the spot, turning Shibuya into a garbage town overnight. The streets are littered with garbage. It is said that the area from JR Shibuya Station to Shibuya Center Street is littered with trash so much that even the police cannot crack down on it.
Although a large number of volunteers clean up the litter after the revelry is over, there is no doubt that it’s a nuisance to many people.
What is Halloween? What does it celebrate?
Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31 and is said to have originated with the ancient Celts. The Celts were people who flourished in Central Europe between 1200 BC and 500 BC. Halloween was originally a Celtic celebration of the fall harvest to ward off evil spirits.
Today, Halloween has taken root as a folk custom in the United States, where people make “jack-o’-lanterns” out of hollowed-out pumpkins and children dress up in costumes to receive candy. In the U.S., a parade is held in New York City, where as many as 2 million people gather to enjoy wearing costumes. However, people don’t go wild like they do on Halloween in Shibuya.
On the other hand, it is said that in the U.S., adults tend to be more embarrassed about showing their drunken state in public than in Japan, and in some states, you can be arrested if you go out drunk.
Anyway, Halloween was originally a festival to celebrate the harvest and drive away evil ghosts. Today, people in the USA enjoy costumes and parades. In light of this, we may have to say that Halloween in Shibuya is exaggeratedly celebrated.
Why do people gather in Shibuya on Halloween?
There are various theories on this, but it is said that the idea of “enjoying a costume party on Halloween” first spread in Japan around the year 2000. It started with a Halloween event at a large theme park. People who participated in this event came to know that Halloween is a time to dress up and have fun.
At the same time, the popularity of anime was growing in Japan. This led to an increase in the number of people who enjoyed dressing up as anime and manga characters. These two cultures were fusing together while promoting Japan, and this was also the cause of the popularity of Halloween in the country.
In the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, when the Japanese national team won its first game, hundreds of people gathered at the scramble crossing to express their joy by high-fiving each other. Also at the 2014 World Cup, soccer fans gathered at the scramble crossing and made a big fuss.
Since then, whenever there’s a big event, people think that it should be held at the Shibuya scramble crossing. Furthermore, with the popularity of social networking services, more and more people wanted to be part of the celebration. That is why people began to gather in Shibuya on Halloween.
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