3. • Shibuya (渋谷) is one of the twenty-three city
wards of Tokyo, but often refers to just the
popular shopping and entertainment area found
around Shibuya Station. In this regard, Shibuya is
one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts,
packed with shopping, dining and nightclubs
serving swarms of visitors that come to the
district everyday.
• Shibuya is a center for youth fashion and culture,
and its streets are the birthplace to many of
Japan's fashion and entertainment trends. Over a
dozen major department store branches can be
found around the area catering to all types of
shoppers. Most of the area's large department
and fashion stores belong to either Tokyu or
Seibu, two competing corporations.
4. Shibuya Crossing
• A prominent landmark of
Shibuya is the large
intersection in front of
the station's Hachiko Exit.
The intersection is heavily
decorated by neon
advertisements and giant
video screens and gets
flooded by pedestrians
each time the crossing
light turns green, making
it a popular photo and
movie filming spot.
5. Shopping!
• Center Gai
The birthplace of many Japanese fashion trends, Center Gai is a busy
pedestrian zone in the heart of Shibuya lined by stores, boutiques and
game centers. In the evenings the street is crowded with young people
heading to night clubs, restaurants and bars, or just loitering around
• Shibuya 109
Shibuya 109 is a trend setting fashion complex for young women and an icon
of the Shibuya district with more than one hundred boutiques on ten
floors. Usually pronounced "Shibuya ichimarukyu", the complex's name
can also be read as "Shibuya to kyu", identifying the complex as part of
the Tokyu Group.
Shibuya Mark City
Shibuya Mark City is a small city within the city, located just next to and
connected with JR Shibuya Station. It consists of a wide range of stores
and restaurants, the Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu, office space, a bus
terminal and the terminal station of the Keio Inokashira Line.
6. Hachiko Statue
• In the 1920s, a professor who
lived near Shibuya Station kept
Hachikō, a small akita dog, who
came to the station every day to
await the return of his master,
Professor Ueno of Tokyo
University. The good professor
died while at work in 1925, but
the dog continued to show up
and wait at the station until his
own death 10 years later.
Hachikō’s faithfulness was not
lost on the Japanese, who built a
statue to honour his memory. The
story is more interesting than the
statue itself, but Hachikō is
perhaps Tokyo’s most famous
meeting spot.
8. • The focal point of Harajuku's teenage culture is
Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) and its side
streets, which are lined by many trendy shops,
fashion boutiques, used clothes stores, crepe
stands and fast food outlets geared towards the
fashion and trend conscious teens.
• In order to experience the teenage culture at its
most extreme, visit Harajuku on a Sunday, when
many young people gather around Harajuku
Station and engage in cosplay ("costume play"),
dressed up in eccentric costumes to resemble
anime characters, punk musicians, etc.
