Places in the Tokyo/Kanto: Shibuya
[Chiba] [Inage] [Kichijoji] [Shinjuku] [Shibuya] [Harajuku] [Yokohama] [Asakusa/Ueno][Ikebukuro] [Other places]
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Shibuya is the trend and fashion capital of Japan, along with nearby Harajuku and Aoyama (the hairdressing capital). Anything seen happening on the streets of this place will before-long have spread throughout the nation which suffers from a chronic case of excessive trend-susceptibility. Shibuya is the home of the female high school student, in her 4-inch sole shoes (not heel - we are talking about the entire sole), cowboy hat and belt (although thankfully that particular trend has not been very long-lasting), black makeup (fake tan) with silver white eye shadow and lipstick for the negative panda look. Even worse, many of the guys don't look much different. And the language spoken in Shibuya is different from that found elsewhere, the words the kids are saying barely intelligible as some form of Japanese. I feel like an old man writing this critique of Japan's 'youth of today' but the simple fact is that I almost feel like an old man in the streets of Shibuya as well. Unfortunately old men, often of the dirty variety, can also be found in parts of Shibuya trying to find those young girls, many of who are happy to oblige them so as to keep up their Vuitton/Versace habits. This has been dismissed as media sensationalisation but the fact is I have seen evidence of it on the streets - yuck! Dogenzaka is well known as a love hotel area for this and also just for young kids trying to escape their parents - these are the hotels you can rent by the hour. Still most of Shibuya is just a place for kids to have fun and is a shopping Mecca.
The shopping is done in the streets and particularly Centre-gai, a paved mall which is always packed with people. That leads to a place called Udagawa-cho and can be classified as the centre of the town. Many other streets fan in all directions from the station towards its various satellites. To the south is Ebisu and Daikanyama (a cafe district), to the north lies Harajuku, to the east Aoyama and to the west is Dogenzaka and further along Komaba (location of the University of Tokyo). With Tokyo Uni so close, we used to often go there after or during school time and even now I usually drop in there whenever I head to the Uni.
When it comes to shopping, while there are plenty of small shops, Shibuya also has its share of department stores. The biggest presence is the Tokyu chain which actually has 4 of its department stores (two of which go under the name '109'), a Tokyu hands plus 3 of its hotels in the area along with two private rail-lines. Also Seibu (including Parco) and Marui have a big presence.
There are also plenty of book and music stores to keep me interested. A particular favourite is Tower Records which not only has music but also on the top floor has an extensive range of imported books that are the cheapest I have seen in Tokyo although Kinokuniya in Shinjuku has a larger range. I often spend too much time browsing through the shelves. On the music side, there is also an HMV, which has plenty of stuff, and some good second hand stores as well.
Shibuya is also one of Tokyo's more important night places. As a result there are plenty of restaurants, izakaya and bars littered throughout the area. The restaurants provide food from all over the world and only Shinjuku surpasses it in variety. One of my favourites is a place in Dogenzaka called Bobby's which, despite its overtly American decor, has a wide range of inexpensive dishes from all over the world. Another is of course Ootoya which I mentioned in the Kichijoji section.
The major meeting place is the Hachiko open space at the north-west corner of the station. It is named Hachiko for the dog statue to be found there. Hachiko the dog waited at the station for his master to take him home every day but one day his master who had died did not return and the dog continued to come back at the regular time of 3pm every day for the next nine years, fed and supported by the stationmaster and also his admirers. This story is seen by many Japanese as a prime example of the worthy quality of loyalty and for many Hachiko is synonymous with Shibuya.
The size of any place in Japan usually depends on its rail connections and Shibuya is no exception with the JR Yamanote-sen loop line and Saikyou-sen to Saitama, two subway lines (Ginza and Hanzomon) which run through central Tokyo, two Tokyu lines, one to central Yokohama and the other to Yokohama's northern suburbs and finally the Keio Inokashira-sen which runs to Kichijoji via Tokyo uni. The Toyoko line to Yokohama stops at Hakuraku, the location of Kanagawa University (Jindai), on the way and so Shibuya has always been the logical place for meetings with my Todai and Jindai friends. A particular favourite is an Okinawan restaurant which provides examples of the unique food (and alcoholic beverages) of that region. It's hard to imagine these days but supposedly Shibuya was once an isolated valley and Dogenzaka was named after Owada Dogen, a 13th C. highwayman who blocked that main entrance.
Shibuya in Japanese literally means "bitter valley" and this is the source of the name of a local group recently making news. They are an association of independent internet entrepreneurs who originally met in a bar in Shibuya but have grown too large for such small surroundings. They call themselves Bit Valley as a pun on Silicon Valley in the States. Japan has always been behind with computer things but there is finally a 'net boom and a netsite for everything here, especially since Japan pioneered the net for mobile phone technology. Thus Shibuya's corporate connections should not be forgotten.
Each year, at the start of November, Shibuya is the venue of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Last year my friend Ki Ki had a part-time job with the festival so we were able to see a movie. It was from Taiwan, although I have forgotten the name. It was bizarre and not the best I've seen but managed to win best film award for the festival.
Partly through Bit Valley and also the money pouring in from the big department stores and because of its young, trendy nature, Shibuya is getting hi-tech. There are big video screens and neon all over the place, to rival Shinjuku or Ikebukuro. Like Shinjuku, it is always thronging with people regardless of the time of day. Shibuya is too crowded for my taste but it is still lively and it is a convenient meeting place where you can have a lot of fun.
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[Chiba] [Inage] [Kichijoji] [Shinjuku] [Shibuya] [Harajuku] [Yokohama] [Asakusa/Ueno][Ikebukuro] [Other places]