国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Tokyo police gear up for another raucous Halloween party in bustling Shibuya_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Tokyo police gear up for another raucous Halloween party in bustling Shibuya

The cleanup operation is assisted by volunteers, who, for the last three years, were given gloves, tongs and special jack-o-lantern garbage bags to collect litter with.

Previous years have seen campaign tie-ins from pop icons such as Ayumi Hamasaki urging revelers to pick up their garbage.

This year, in addition to additional temporary garbage cans, the Shibuya ward is installing donation boxes where people can deposit unwanted props and costumes. The donations will be sold online, with proceeds going to the cleanup operation.

Halloween is not traditionally a Japanese custom. Its origins in the country can be traced back to the 1950s, when a bookstore in Harajuku, the fashion-forward district neighboring Shibuya, started selling imported books and magazines.

By the 1970s, the shop's foreign customers were asking how to get hold of Halloween goods. Staff visited the United States to learn about Halloween culture, and in the 1980s began hosting children's Halloween parties.

The event grew each year, with hundreds of children participating, and other shops followed suit.

The festival received a major boost in 1997, when Disneyland Tokyo introduced Halloween costumes and decorations to its parades.

Tokyo's bars and clubs began hosting Halloween parties, which have in the last decade gradually moved to the streets, particularly in Shibuya, which has developed a reputation for street festivities following the 2002 FIFA World Cup.