It feels like, wherever you go in the world, public spaces are under threat of extinction. There feel like fewer places where people can hang out or even just rest for a few minutes. More cities are resorting to practices such as installing uncomfortable benches to discourage loitering or prevent the unhoused from sleeping on them.
This movement, sadly, seems to be taking root in Japan as well. One neighborhood in Tokyo went viral recently for closing off half of its available sitting space to prevent late-night drinking.
Other social media users jumped in to decry the growth around the city of benches that seem calculated to prevent the one thing a bench was meant to enable: sitting. However, the city says the measures are necessary to combat a rise in what it terms “young people and foreigners” partying until the wee morning hours.
Traffic pole seating
When you say the word “Shinjuku,” for most people, it conjures up images of Shinjuku Station, Kabukicho, Shinjuku Gaien – the heart of the city’s downtown.
But Shinjuku is a large city in Tokyo, home to some 356,000 residents. It’s host, not just to bustling nightlife centers, but to sleepy residential neighborhoods tens of thousands of people call home.
One such area is Nakai (ไธญไบ) in the city’s northwest. Home to just shy of 5,000 people, the area became part of Shinjuku in 1947 and adopted its current name in 1965. It’s far removed from any notable public places or tourist draws. If you’re in Nakai, that’s likely because you live there.
Here, near Nakai Station underneath the track for the Seibu Shinjuku line, is a public area. One side contains a bicycle parking lot for residents and commuters. The other is a wide open space with benches. And signs. A LOT of signs.
You can’t smoke on the street here. Which isn’t anything new – that’s a rule throughout all of Shinjuku. However, you can’t do much of anything else here, either. Signs warn against everything from skateboarding to talking at night to playing sports or bouncing balls off against the wall.
But it’s the latest rule that has netizens up in arms. Off to one section of this concrete park is a bench. However, only 1/3rd of the bench is usable. The city has placed what appear to be traffic poles on four of the six available seats. Each pole is secured to the bench with a heavy plastic tie.
A sign posted on the benches explains that, due to littering and nighttime noise, the city has partially closed them. Interestingly, it seems people have figured out a partial workaround, as I saw two people doubled up and sharing a single seat.
Arched benches are spreading
The poles went viral online thanks to a post on X by user @asaharal966. “These benches transcend the meaning of ‘mean,'” they remarked. “Judging by the signs asking people to refrain from nighttime conversations, I imagine they were complaints by residents. ‘Don’t play.’ ‘Don’t talk.’ ‘Wanna rest? Do it alone.'”
The post sparked a debate about who’s really at fault. One user lambasted Shinjuku, claiming the city was “becoming a dystopia.” However, another user remarked, “From the resident’s perspective, isn’t it the idiotic young people getting drunk & disturbing them as they rest for work tomorrow who are being ‘mean’?”
While this form of restriction appears to be unique to Nakai, other users have noted that benches with arched seats have started appearing throughout Shinjuku. Indeed, back in March, Shinjuku mayor Yoshizumi Kenichi touted how easy it was to sit and read on the new benches. “There’s even space for tea or a cup,” he bragged.
Not everyone was quite so enamored. User @tsukiji14 blasted the “mean benches.” “They put a lot of thought into this, huh?…I wonder if these will make older people fall over.”
“Young people and foreigners”
A spokesperson for Shinjuku confirmed that they had shut down the benches due to complaints that “young people and foreigners” were drinking in parks until early in the morning.
One spokesperson interviewed by Tokyo Shimbun called the measures a “last resort” against public drinking. It’s become fashionable for people who miss the last train home to hang out in Shinjuku and drink into the wee hours. That’s preventing some residents from getting a good night’s sleep – and leading to a surge of complaints.
While some are blaming foreign tourists and residents for the spike, it’s not clear exactly who’s to blame. Street drinking has long been a frowned-upon but somewhat accepted tradition in Tokyo. However, complaints seem to have risen since Japan re-opened its borders to record tourist numbers.
The benches aren’t the only moves against public drinking. Shinjuku recently announced it was banning public drinking during Halloween. The move follows a similar move by Shibuya, which banned all Halloween festivities in 2023. It’s since gone further than Shinjuku, banning all street drinking year-round.
Long story short, we can probably expect to see more “mean benches” around Tokyo in the future – especially near popular nightlife spots. For some, it seems to be the only way residents can get a good night’s sleep.
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Sources
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