📷 Halloween in Tokyo in the Rain: A Photo Essay

Two police officers on a metal riser on a rainy Shinjuku street, a pedestrian with an umbrella in silhouette in the foreground

Tokyo’s Halloween used to be famous for its wild and rowdy street parties. But when we were there, rain and stern restrictions dampened any public festivities. Shinjuku and Shibuya had banned street parties or public drinking for the holiday, and officers stood out in the downpour with signs and bullhorns to remind everyone.

These photographs follow that evening from wet, quiet streets in Shimokitazawa, where we’d seen some live music (read about that here), to the neon crossings and police announcements of Shinjuku. Commuters and celebrants with clear umbrellas moving intentionally, a delivery rider, a cyclist weaving through the crowd. There’s very little debauchery, but plenty to look at.

Shimokitazawa in the Rain

  • Reflections of commuters entering and leaving Shimokitazawa Station on a rainy night in Tokyo
    Commuters come and go at Shimokitazawa Station, doubled in the wet pavement.
  • Food delivery motorcycle passes on a rainy Shimokitazawa street, its lights and neon signs reflected on the wet road
    A delivery rider cuts through the rain.
  • Man in a white shirt and black pants walks away holding a clear umbrella and his suit jacket, neon glowing behind
    A businessman under a clear umbrella, jacket over his arm.
  • Woman with a clear umbrella walks past a lit restaurant in the rain, her shopping bag covered in clear plastic
    Even the shopping bag gets its own raincoat.

Neon and Crosswalks

  • Closer view of a rainy Tokyo crosswalk at night, with blurred car lights and neon reflected on the wet street
    The rain turns the street into a mirror for the signs above.
  • Pedestrians, two sharing an umbrella, wait at a Shinjuku intersection as cars blur past, purple and white lights on wet road
    Waiting at a Shinjuku crossing while the traffic smears past.
  • Vertical view of a rainy neon-lit street near Kabukicho with pedestrians under umbrellas and light reflected on the pavement
    The same street with no police in sight: umbrellas, neon and wet pavement.
  • Cyclist rides between pedestrians on a brightly lit neon street near Kabukicho in the rain
    A cyclist threads through the umbrellas.

Rules in the Rain

  • Two police officers in green vests and clear ponchos beside a sign reading "No Drinking on the Street" in the rain
    Shinjuku City’s message to Halloween crowds: “NO Drinking on the Street.”
  • Two police officers on a metal riser on a rainy Shinjuku street, a pedestrian with an umbrella in silhouette in the foreground
    Two police officers on a riser, a pedestrian in silhouette below.
  • Police officer on a metal riser leaning over with a bullhorn beside a no-drinking sign, another officer climbing, in heavy rain
    Announcements through the downpour, on a no drinking sign whose first line is in Japanese.
  • Pedestrians with umbrellas walk a neon-lit wet street near Kabukicho as a police officer with a bullhorn watches from the side
    Neon above, rain below, and an officer with a bullhorn watching the crowd.
  • Couple walks in the rain under a shared clear umbrella; through it, the woman in a white coat points at something
    Sharing a clear umbrella, she points out something ahead.
Naturalist’s Notebook

Naturalists learn a place by noticing it closely, and these tips let you borrow their methods, whether you’re in a rainforest or a train station.

hand drawn magnifying glass

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Wet

Visit a place you know in the rain, or a place you’d normally skip because of the weather. The same street shows you things it hides on a dry day — colors become more vivd and lights are reflected and amplified.

hand drawn ear

Listen

For every light you see, look for its reflection. A wet street becomes a mirror echoing each sign, headlight, and window. If you’re taking photos, try shooting the reflection instead of the source.

Posted In: Japan, Place as Story, Sightlines, Tokyo

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