TOKYO (TR) – As safety measure, members of Shibuya Ward cordoned off the iconic Hachiko dog statue that is positioned in front of JR Shibuya Station on New Year’s Eve.
That night, members of Tokyo’s finest — including the so-called “DJ police” positioned on an elevated platform — were deployed near the station. Some also directed traffic at the famous “Scramble Crossing.”
By most accounts, the evening was rather tame. However, there was at least one fight involving a foreigner, who wound up getting arrested, reports Fuji News Network (Jan. 6).
Just as the clock ticked past midnight, the foreign male and got into the skirmish with a Japanese man. Two nearby security guards rushed to the scene. Then — with a “bang” sound — the foreign man head-butted one security guard who tried to stop the fight.
“Stop it!” a foreign woman yelled. Meanwhile, the man’s friends desperately tried to stop him.
When police arrived, the foreign man insisted, “I didn’t do anything!”
“It was pretty crowded,” one witness tells the network, “and it happened in a situation where we couldn’t move. It was scary because it happened right in front of me. It’s a sad way to start the New Year. I wish we could have welcomed it a little more happily.”
According to police, a foreign man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of property damage. He was released on Monday.
