Burger King Japan shuns Shibuya Halloween spirit, but keeps it alive everywhere else

No tricks or treats is the plan at Shibuya Center-gai, but cool sweets will be waiting at every other branch.

In a way, I suppose you could accuse Burger King Japan of having lost its Halloween spirit. The chain’s Shibuya Center-gai branch in downtown Tokyo, just a short walk from the world-famous Shibuya Scramble intersection, announced on Thursday that it’ll be closed for the entirety of October 31. The storefront’s shutter will be down with a large 臨時休業 (“temporarily closed”) written across it, and the Burger King logo will even have an X over it to quickly communicate the message “No burgers here on Halloween!”

This has become something of an annual tradition at the Shibuya Center-gai Burger King, stemming from the neighborhood’s attempts to clean up its image at Halloween. Shibuya was one of the first places in Japan where people began gathering in large numbers to celebrate Halloween, and what started as good-natured fun eventually turned into alcohol-soaked street parties with instances of vandalism, theft, and violence marring the unsanctioned gatherings.

In recent years the authorities have been cracking down with measures such as restricting alcohol sales and setting up gates and barricades to more tightly control the flow of people in and out of Shibuya on and around Halloween night, as well as public awareness campaigns reminding people that public drinking, littering, and other forms of inconsiderate or unruly behavior are not allowed. And while there’s no government mandate prohibiting Burger King from staying open on October 31, the restaurant’s management evidently feels the wisest choice is to close the place and take the day off so as not to contribute to overcrowding in Shibuya on Halloween.

That doesn’t mean that Burger King Japan is opposed to Halloween fun in general, though. As a matter of fact, at the same time that the Shibuya Center-gai location is closed, every other Burger King in Japan will be actively celebrating by inviting people to come on in and trick-or-treat!

On October 31, all non-Shibuya Center-gai Burger Kings will be giving out free soft serve ice cream to the first 30 visitors age 18 or younger who come up to the counter and say “trick or treat.” There doesn’t appear to be any requirement that they order anything else, either, so this really is following the classic Halloween custom of giving out sweets simply for the asking. They’re even sweetening the free-sweets deal by tossing in a sheet of Halloween stickers.

▼ The ice cream here appears to be haunted, but that’s still better than not having ice cream right?

Note, though, that the trick-or-treat ice cream is only available between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., which means no having it for breakfast, but since trick-or-treating isn’t a morning activity, even this is in keeping with the spirit of Halloween.

Source, images: PR Times
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