shibuya halloween, and the japanese on every sign telling you to keep moving

It is Halloween, it is a Saturday, and 渋谷(しぶや) would like you to know it is not throwing a party. The ward's slogan this year is "GOODBYE BAD HALLOWEEN," and since Friday evening the area around the station has been running like a very polite fortress. Police started traffic restrictions around the station on the evening of the 30th. The Hachiko statue went behind a temporary fence at 6 a.m. that day and stays there until Sunday morning. ハロウィン is trending on Japanese X right now, mostly with costumes, partly with photos of the fence.

The rest of the list: about 180 private security guards across Friday and Saturday night, around ten watch platforms starting at Hachiko Square, and an extra-large litter patrol. From 6 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m., the ward has asked 62 nearby shops, including konbini, department stores and other retailers, to stop selling alcohol. The smoking areas by the station and at the bottom of Miyamasuzaka are closed. There are no temporary toilets and no changing areas, on purpose. Street drinking near the station has been banned every night from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. since October 2024, and since June, littering anywhere in the ward can get you a 2,000-yen fine. The ward collected that fine 1,412 times between June and the end of September.

Mayor Ken Hasebe's line was blunt: Shibuya on the 31st is not a town where you party all night in costume. He also said he doesn't want to tell visitors not to come. So, come, but keep moving.

If you live here, the costumes are not the problem. The problem is Saturday night when you need to get to the station, buy a can of something at the konbini, or just get home, and every sign, flag and loudspeaker is talking to you in Japanese at once.

The good news: crowd-control Japanese is a small, bossy vocabulary. Four signs, two announcements and four lines of your own cover the night.

Micro-lesson: the signs

路上飲酒禁止(ろじょういんしゅきんし)
"No drinking on the street." 路上(ろじょう) is on the street, 飲酒(いんしゅ) is drinking alcohol, 禁止(きんし) is prohibited. Around 渋谷駅(しぶやえき) the small print usually adds the hours: 18時(じ)〜翌(よく)5時(じ), 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning. 翌(よく) means "the following," as in 翌朝(よくあさ), the next morning. You will meet it again on every hotel checkout sheet.

ポイ捨(す)て禁止(きんし)
"No littering." ポイ is the sound of something being tossed, and 捨(す)てる is to throw away. Shibuya's posters now pair it with 過料(かりょう)2,000円(えん), a 2,000-yen fine. 過料(かりょう) is the administrative kind of fine. It isn't a criminal record, but it is still your 2,000 yen.

酒類(しゅるい)の販売(はんばい)を自粛(じしゅく)しております
"We are refraining from selling alcohol." This is the style of notice to expect taped to the konbini door tonight. 酒類(しゅるい) is the formal word for alcoholic drinks, 販売(はんばい) is sales, and 自粛(じしゅく) is voluntary restraint, the word everyone in Japan learned in 2020. Nobody is forcing the shop. The shop has been asked very nicely. Same result for you.

交通規制中(こうつうきせいちゅう)
"Traffic restrictions in effect." 規制(きせい) is regulation, and 〜中(ちゅう) means "currently." A closed road is 通行止(つうこうど)め. If both signs are up, take the long way.

Micro-lesson: the loudspeakers

立(た)ち止(ど)まらないでください
"Please don't stop." The classic police line at a packed crossing. 立(た)ち止(ど)まる is to stop walking, and 〜ないでください is "please don't." Yes, that includes stopping for a photo of the fence.

前(まえ)の方(かた)に続(つづ)いて、ゆっくりお進(すす)みください
"Follow the person in front of you and move slowly, please." 前(まえ)の方(かた) is the polite way to say "the person ahead," and お進(すす)みください is "please proceed." You don't need to answer. You need to walk.

Micro-lesson: what you say

すみません、駅(えき)にはどう行(い)けばいいですか
"Excuse me, how do I get to the station?" The ward's plan warns that station entrances and exits may change depending on how crowded it gets, so the way you always go may not be the way tonight.

この道(みち)、通(とお)れますか
"Can I get through this way?" Point at the street as you say it. 通(とお)れる is "can pass." Short, clear, and every guard has heard it a hundred times by 9 p.m.

近(ちか)くに住(す)んでいるんですが
"I live nearby, so..." The んですが ending leaves the sentence open and lets the other person fill in the help. It works at every barrier between you and your apartment.

ごみはどこに捨(す)てればいいですか
"Where should I throw this away?" Ask it instead of doing the ポイ. The ward is putting out temporary trash collection points near the Udagawacho police box and Hachiko Square tonight.

A short exchange at the barrier

You: すみません、近(ちか)くに住(す)んでいるんですが、この道(みち)、通(とお)れますか。
Guard: こちらは今(いま)、通行止(つうこうど)めです。反対側(はんたいがわ)から回(まわ)ってください。
You: わかりました。ありがとうございます。

"Excuse me, I live nearby. Can I get through here?" / "This way is closed right now. Please go around from the other side." / "Got it, thank you." Three lines, and the hard part is the detour, not the Japanese.

48h drill

Before the crowds come back for the year-end countdown:

1. Next time you pass a sign with 禁止(きんし) on it, read the word in front of it. 路上飲酒(ろじょういんしゅ), ポイ捨(す)て, 撮影(さつえい) (photography). Japan puts 禁止(きんし) on a lot of things. Each one you can read is one less thing you have to guess.
2. Say この道(みち)、通(とお)れますか out loud once with a pointing finger. It is the most useful sentence for any festival, marathon or road works week in this country.
3. If you are near 渋谷(しぶや) tonight, look at the konbini door for 自粛(じしゅく). Finding it in the wild counts. Buying a hot tea instead also counts.

No lecture about costumes. No new streak. Just enough Japanese to get home.

Want the everyday scripts that show up at the register on one card, from bag and heat to chopsticks and points? Grab the free konbini phrase pack at konbinilegends.com/phrase-pack. No signup. Keep it in your pocket for the walk around the barricades.

Don't stop at the crossing. Don't drop the can. Ask where the trash goes. The fence comes off Hachiko on Sunday, and he has seen worse.