Takadanobaba sets up fences near plaza/street to prevent crowds of people drinking on the street

Many people have posted on social media of litter of alcohol and there is no doubt that there are many people drinking/drunk around Tokyo during the State of Emergency.

While the State of emergency is requesting restaurants to shorten their business hours, people gathering and drinking alcohol in the streets is occurring and Shinjuku has taken measures to prevent this.

Takadanobaba is known for its many bars and near the station, the plaza is now being fenced as a countermeasure against “drinking on the street”.

Last month, the plaza area was fenced off but no improvement was seen, so on May 19th, a fence was installed between the plaza and the sidewalk to block the smoking area inside the plaza.

An 80-year-old resident said, “There were always a lot of people in the square, and I thought it was becoming dangerous. I’m glad they closed it”.

A male college student said, “I think there are college students drinking in the plaza. I understand that we can’t be part of any events and travel and feel stressed, but when corona started to increase again, the plaza closed, and we can’t drink on the street”.

The plaza is a popular area for people to sit and relax, smoke and meet with people but lately it’s been an area where people just wanted to drink.

---