Police have intervened in a long-running daily food service for the homeless in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, ordering volunteers who make and distribute onigiri rice balls each morning to shift from a spot they have used for years, said several individuals involved with the food service.

On Monday, a police officer approached a man handing out onigiri beneath a railway bridge near JR Shibuya Station, telling him the operation would no longer be tolerated at that location, the individual said. There are no commercial premises or residential buildings nearby and usually no pedestrians at 5:15 a.m., when the food delivery takes place.

The group of mainly foreigners has been helping feed Tokyo's homeless for at least 29 years, said one volunteer who helps to coordinate the effort. They have used that particular spot for the past seven years without complaint, he said.