🇯🇵How does Japan mark Halloween?

ハロウィン

Local date

October 31, 2026

Japan's public holidays are listed one by one in the Act on National Holidays (Act No. 178 of 1948). The Cabinet Office publishes sixteen of them; the only one in October is Sports Day, the second Monday. Halloween is not among them and no national statute mentions it. Two Tokyo wards legislate in its place. Shibuya enacted its Ordinance on Securing a Safe and Secure Environment in the Area around Shibuya Station in June 2019, and the ward's own account of why is blunt: during Halloween and the New Year countdown, nuisance behaviour by some visitors was threatening the safety and order of the area. The amendment in force from 1 October 2024 turned the street-drinking rule into a year-round ban — 6 p.m. to 5 a.m., in streets, parks and other public places — and enlarged the restricted zone, with Article 6(2) allowing the ward to lift it for designated events on a month's notice. On 11 October 2023 the mayor, Ken Hasebe, published a statement in his own name: Shibuya is NOT a venue for Halloween events, and anyone planning to come to the Shibuya Station area for Halloween on 31 October or in the days before should refrain. Shinjuku followed with its own ordinance in 2024. Its restricted zone is part of Shinjuku 3-chome and Kabukicho 1-chome and its restricted period is 31 October and 1 November; for 2026 the ward has posted 5 p.m. on Saturday 31 October to 5 a.m. on Sunday 1 November, and it asks liquor retailers inside the zone to suspend sales voluntarily. Lighting fires, climbing streetlights or buildings, and making noise with audio equipment are all prohibited. There is no penalty attached — ward staff patrol and instruct.