Shibuya’s Year-Round Street Drinking Ban Still Sees Foreigners Partying with Alcohol

Where there are no staff members.

Since the transition of COVID-19 to category 5, street drinking by young people and foreigners around Shibuya Station has become commonplace, leading to persistent issues such as litter from empty cans and conflicts related to drinking.

Concerned about this situation, Shibuya Ward amended its ordinance in June of this year. Although it does not impose penalties, it announced the prohibition of street drinking year-round starting from the 1st of this month. This marks the first time that street drinking will be banned year-round in Tokyo.

Previously, areas where street drinking was prohibited during Halloween were limited to particularly crowded locations such as the Hachiko area and Center Street. However, the recent ordinance amendment now includes Shibuya Park Avenue and the area around Miyashita Park.

How much will street drinking decrease with this new ordinance?

On the first weekend after the year-round prohibition took effect, I visited Shibuya and noticed ward staff patrolling the area, confiscating alcohol from young people and foreigners drinking on the street. 

However, in places where staff were absent, foreigners continued to enjoy drinking on the streets without interruption. Given this situation, is it really possible to eliminate street drinking? Talking to the ward staff on patrol revealed the challenges they face.

“We patrol from 6 PM to 5 AM with 18 staff members during the prohibited hours for street drinking. However, due to the wide area of prohibition, there are inevitably places we cannot monitor. We also want to increase the number of posters and signage about the prohibition, but we haven’t been able to get permission from building owners. I genuinely think it would be better to impose fines or penalties, but due to a shortage of personnel, that’s difficult to implement.”

Last year’s Halloween period saw calls for convenience stores to refrain from selling alcohol, leading to measures like covering alcohol shelves with sheets. However, requesting such measures year-round poses challenges for convenience store management.

Street Drinking Patrol measures are being shared on social media.

In reality, since it was the first weekend of the new ordinance, district officials were confiscating alcohol from many people. However, it seems that some individuals still want to drink on the streets. Some users on social media have been sharing methods for drinking, which has drawn criticism.

“This ordinance prohibits drinking on the streets, so if someone is drinking on the premises of a restaurant or convenience store, the officials can’t do anything. Therefore, some people were suggesting the strategy of escaping to these areas when officials approached.

Additionally, there were methods shared for camouflaging cans and bottles to make it less obvious that they contained alcohol,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social section.

Even though there are no penalties for drinking on the streets, it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t comply with the ordinance. To keep Shibuya a safe and secure place, the cooperation of everyone in the area is essential.