This article is based on a visit made on Monday, 14 November 2016.
Shibuya (渋谷, lit. 'astringent valley') is one of the many commercial centres of Tokyo. Situated on the southwest of the Yamanote line loop, Shibuya maintains a focus on youthful fashions and nightlife. Fashion trends have been born here
almost at the rate of nearby Harajuku, which is also part of the Shibuya ward, in fact. But if that holds no sway for you, don't worry, because Shibuya still caters to many interests.
Shibuya's namesake train station is one of the larger in Tokyo, served by a total of 9 lines among 4 companies. Directly northeast of the station is the Shibuya Eki-mae scramble crossing. As a scramble crossing, traffic in all directions is periodically stopped to allow pedestrians on all sides to cross the road. It has grown to become one of Tokyo's most iconic landmarks in recent history, thanks to movies such as
Lost In Translation (2003) and
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), plus a short film made for the
closing ceremonies of Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Olympics (which will be followed up by Tokyo in 2020). This place is perhaps Japan's best analogue to Times Square in New York City, although it certainly has competition on that front, even within Tokyo itself.
There are a few points of interest just on the corner between the crossing and Shibuya Station, and the most famous of them all is the Hachiko statue.
Hachiko (ハチ公,
Hachikō) was an Akita dog owned by a professor in the University of Tokyo. Every day, his pet would leave home to greet him upon returning to Shibuya Station. That was, until a year later (1925), when the professor died during a lecture. Hachiko, however, kept returning to the station to await his owner, every day for almost ten years. Over time, its faithfulness warmed peoples' hearts and made him a national icon. The dog eventually did die in 1935, but even before then, a statue of it was unveiled here, in front of the station. The statue remains to this day a popular meeting point for people in Shibuya, and is best accessed from, naturally, the station's Hachiko exit.
Hachiko has inspired other works of art, too, such as this bas-relief mural on a nearby wall of the station.
Across from the Hachiko statue stands this 1950s-era Tokyu train car, which has been repurposed as a small visitor's centre. A few books are laid out inside, containing pictures of what Shibuya looked like in decades past. Tokyu, short for "Tokyo Electric Railway" (東京急行電鉄,
Tōkyō Kyūkō Dentetsu), is one of the
many private railway companies operating in Tokyo. Two of their lines, including the Toyoko
(TY) line to Yokohama, start from Shibuya Station.
The glass tower... okay,
one of the glass towers on the other side of the crossing (it's the one with the giant video display) hosts a Starbucks cafe. If you order something, you can take it up to their sitting room on the 2nd floor, and get one of the best views of the scramble crossing. Here's what it looks like before pedestrians have the green light...
...And here it is after. Mind you, this was mid-morning on a Monday, so the foot traffic was nowhere near its full potential. The Starbucks room, however, was still packed at the time, so I had to wait a minute to get a seat. I've read a few anecdotes stating it to be one of the busiest, if not the busiest, Starbucks branch in the world, but couldn't find any hard statistics to that effect. So, if that doesn't work out for you, you can also get good views from the overpass on the other side of the crossing (to the right in this shot), connecting Shibuya Station and the Shibuya Mark City mall.
One of the many streets branching off from the scramble crossing is Center-gai (センター街,
Sentā-gai). Center-gai is a pedestrian zone lined with many stores, restaurants, nightclubs, and game centres. I'm sure it would look even nicer with all that neon signage lit up (and it would, because I've been here at night before).
Opening out not far from Center-gai, the Spain slope (スペイン坂,
Supein-zaka) is named after its supposed resemblance to alleyways from European cities. Its entrance is right beside an easily identifiable (even by Center-gai standards) green-glass facade of the Bershka store. Which is appropriate, since Bershka is chain of retail stores based in Spain.
Spain-zaka is lined with even more cafes and boutiques which advertise a sort of Spanish atmosphere... or a French atmosphere, in some cases. There's not too much going on along Spain-zaka, compared to the streets surrounding it, but it feels more secluded for it. Then again, maybe the time of day was a factor.
Going uphill, the Spain slope dead-ends at the Parco department store, which is closed for renovation until 2019. Instead, turn right and you will end up on Koen-dori (公園通り,
Kōen Dōri, lit. 'Park Street'), where there are yet more places of retail, much of it higher-end. For example, there's a Swarovski store right across from where we entered, and a couple of doors down from that, an Apple Store (pictured). The flat, metallic, facade of its building contrasts with its neighbours...
...But really, standing out is the rule, not the exception. For example, there's a Disney Store on Koen-dori with a fanciful castle as part of its storefront.
Seibu (西武, lit. 'west Musashi') is a department store owned by the holding company of the same name, which also runs the Seibu railway network. Ironically, none of its lines stop at Shibuya, but instead at Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, the latter also being the site of its flagship department store. As for its Shibuya branch, shown here, I thought the lighted columns at the entrance were pretty.
Within the Shibuya area alone, the Seibu group also owns the Loft and (currently closed) Parco stores. It competes with the Tokyu group, owner of the Tokyu department stores, Tokyu Hands, Shibuya 109, Shibuya Mark City, and the new Shibuya Hikarie, plus the Tokyu rail network, which I mentioned above.
Movida is another shopping centre owned by Seibu, up the road from the main store. It had a clock out front which was a looping video of hands turning pages in books for every new second, minutes, or hour.
And thus the road takes us back down to Shibuya Station. I have been to Shibuya on all three of my adventures in Japan thus far, but somehow I have never seen the Hachiko statue in person... until now, that is! Please allow me to indulge in this one selfie sign-off to document my debut meeting with this canine celebrity.
Access: The Shibuya district is best accessed by, naturally, Shibuya Station (JR Yamanote
(JY), Saikyo
(JA), Shonan-Shinjuku
(JS), Tokyo Metro Ginza
(G), Hanzomon
(H), Fukutoshin
(F), Keio Inokashira
(IN), Tokyu Toyoko
(TY) and Den-en-Toshi
(DT) lines). On the Yamanote line, it takes 25 minutes and ¥200 to reach Shibuya (JY20) from Tokyo Station, or 7 minutes and ¥160 from Shinjuku Station.
