3 Great Things to do in Shibuya for Foreigners
You moved to Tokyo and now you’re looking for places to visit. Vibrant, lively, fun, faddish, crowded, cramped, and busy, and the streetwise love it! Shibuya is another shopping and entertainment district situated in the west of Tokyo. It’s newer than its rival Shinjuku and has a cleaner, safer reputation. Its popularity is the reason many tour companies and especially those specializing in gay tours in Japan bring their customers to visit. Alongside its huge department stores it’s also famous for the studios of NHK, the Olympic gymnasium, “Love Hotel Hill” and “Hachiko” – the tear-jerking statue of a dog. Shibuya is known for its Shibuya Station, which is one of the busiest in Tokyo, and for its place as the center of Tokyo’s fashion and nightlife.
As part of core Tokyo sightseeing tourist attractions, Shibuya has risen during the latest 30 years into world-fame especially as the center for fashion. Of the areas, the best in this regard include the roads from Shibuya station to Harajuku (especially in terms of youth fashion), Omotesandō street (which goes to the Meiji temple), and Sendagaya, which is the city’s central quarter for clothes design. Tokyo’s fashion trends are a rare (and often shocking) departure from the ordinary and for those keen on exploring the current heights of this fast-moving obsession.
The Shibuya district of Japan’s capital city, Tokyo, is the epitome of modernity, high fashion and fast-paced living; definitely one of the must visit places when you go for Tokyo sightseeing. But once visitors get used to the business feel of Shibuya which is characterized by the bustling, five-way scramble crossing at Hachiko Square, they will be able to see just why this neighborhood is so popular. Shibuya is also known for its high end shopping customers. Shops here are funky, cool and trendy. On weekends and after school, the area is filled with young people in various takes on the traditional Japanese school uniform. This is a fun place to take in teen culture, which often sets the pace for the rest of the world.
Shibuya is also the quarter in which has the world’s most two story high TV screens, most often on the exterior walls of the department stores in the neighborhood. Perhaps the most famous landmark that symbolizes the entire Japan, in addition to the Fuji mountain, is Shibuya’s street crossing, where pedestrians can walk the square through any of the corners, and which is surrounded by three massive sized TV screens and neon lights. This narrow, busy street is located near the giant video screen in Hachiko Square and is difficult to miss. Lined with shops that are stocked with the latest fashion outfits and some bizarre designs, it’s a popular youth hangout and an excellent place to soak up the local atmosphere.
Continuing with the theme of the ‘unusual,’ Shibuya is also home to some quirky exhibitions. Arguably the most prominent on the list of these strange attractions is the Tobacco and Salt Museum, which specializes in the collection and study of all things related to these substances. Bizarre as it may seem, this is actually a quite fascinating examination of the history of two cultural staples across the world. The contrasting development of Latin American smoking and Japanese tobacco habits is of particular interest.