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New Year is just around the corner, but if you're thinking of heading to Shibuya to celebrate New Year's Eve, think again. Just like last year, Shibuya ward has announced that it's cancelling its 2026 NYE countdown festivities at Shibuya Station. Bummer.
The cancellation should come as no surprise to long-term residents, as this year marks the sixth time that Shibuya has axed the event. What began as a safety precaution during the Covid-19 pandemic has since become an annual occurrence, meant to curb 'rowdy behaviour' and 'incidents caused by street drinking' according to Shibuya mayor Ken Hasebe.
In addition to cancelled festivities, the beloved Hachiko statue will also be fenced off to reduce congestion, starting from 6am on December 31 until 1am on January 1 2026. Convenience stores in the area will temporarily stop selling alcohol, and public drinking will be banned from 6pm to 5am, which again is no surprise, as nighttime public drinking bans are kind of Shibuya's thing now.
The Shibuya NYE event began in 2016 and welcomed over 100,000 in 2019 before its cancellation the following year. Whether the massively popular gathering will one day return is anyone's guess, but for now, check out these Christmas markets around the city, which are very much not cancelled.
