Japan: Shibuya

Shibuya  (渋谷) is a major commercial and retail hub, but also famous for 3 things: Shibuya crossing (the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing), Hachiko the loyal dog, and Shibuya 109 (a fashion mecca for young girls).

Most tourists think of Shibuya as the area around Shibuya Station, but in reality it is a special ward that encompasses Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku Gyoen, and parts of Shinjuku Station as well. Shibuya (the ward) is a major commercial, technology and finance hub.

Near the station is the Shibuya Crossing, popularly cited as “the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world” (3,000 people per green light, or up to 500,000 a day). It has been featured in a few films (notably Lost in Translation and Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift).

Outside Shibuya Station is a statue of a dog called Hachikou (ハチ公). This is a poignant true story of a loyal dog that has been made into several films and written in books. Hachikou (the name loosely translates to “Prince Eight”) was an Akita dog belonging to a Tokyo University professor who lived near Shibuya Station. The professor would walk with the dog to the station each day at the same time, and in the evening always returned at the same time. One day, the professor died from a cerebral haemorrhage at university and never returned. Each day, for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days, Hachikou awaited the professor’s return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

When we visited Shibuya in 2008, there was a museum dedicated to the life of Hachikou (appropriately located in a refurbished railway carriage).

Next to the Shibuya crossing is a tall thin building with a giant TV screen on it. This is the infamous Shibuya 109, a mecca for young girls (and boys) looking for the latest teenage fashions. I would have loved to buy some of the clothes, except I don’t think any of them would fit me.