Shibuya Halloween 2015 – It was off the hook here last night, and that’s putting it lightly! At the start of the evening it was already pretty crowded with costumed partiers arriving from every direction. Tokyo’s Shibuya scramble crossing was the scene of a massive gathering of thousands of Halloween revelers on Saturday night. An army of police were out in the area to keep the roads clear, the party people were all pretty well behaved of course, just spilling out into the roads.
“It’s a gathering of people in Halloween costumes who hang around to see and be seen.”
– Shibuya Halloween 2015
It was more than just people flooding the crosswalks, it was the drivers as well that needed to be told to pass through Shibuya crossing in an orderly fashion. There were colorful, noisy and ridiculous vehicles parading through Shibuya all night—neon light bikers (bosozoku) doing wheelies and revving their motors. Ferraris, Mustangs, Bentleys and super stretch limos all screeching through and some party buses.
Halloween has really exploded over the years. As people who have lived here for more than a few years will know Halloween was a non-event in Japan just 5 years ago, it was mostly a painful memory of locals bitterly complaining about noisy foreigners partying around town on Halloween. A few scattered clubs would attract a crowd and that was it. In recently years, interest is blooming. Many clubs and bars in Tokyo hold Halloween events, but celebrations are usually confined to specific areas where the foreigners gather in masses, especially those in the Shibuya and Roppongi areas. Shibuya was the most lively, happy and bonkers last night, and this was the culmination of almost 2 months of buildup preparations, with similar but slightly smaller scenes kicking off the weekend the night before.
You can see the photos of the madness here: Shibuya Halloween 2015
