Shibuya

last update: February 07, 2023

Things to see and things to do in Shibuya

Shibuya is one of the city's major hubs for shopping and youth fashion during the day, and for restaurants, pubs and nightclubs of all kinds at night. Strictly speaking, there isn't much to visit in this area. It is above all a neighborhood to live and explore, walking on foot through its chaotic streets. It is also a perfect place to go shopping, with thousands of small shops scattered throughout the neighborhood and huge branches of many famous department stores (Parco, Loft, Tokyu Hands, Marui, Seibu) around Shibuya station. At the end of 2022 also opened the newest and coolest observation deck in Tokyo, the Shibuya Sky on top of the brand new skyscraper Shibuya Scramble Square.

Hachiko

The statue of Hachiko depicts a dog whose story is now famous around the world, especially after the release of the film ("Hachi: A Dog's Tale", 2009). He became famous for his enormous loyalty to his owner, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno. After the sudden death of Ueno, the dog went every day, for nine years, to wait for him at the station where the man used to take the train to get to work. In 1934, when the dog died, the local community, deeply moved, decided to dedicate him a statue, which today is still there, in front of Shibuya Station. To find it, just follow the signs to the Hachiko exit of Shibuya station.
The area around the statue is always very crowded, because of the many Japanese people using this place as a meeting point and the tourists who want their selfie with the most famous akita dog in the world.

Shibuya crossing

RIght in front of the Hachiko exit of Shibuya station you can find the most famous intersection in the world. When the traffic lights for cars turn red, the street gets filled with thousands of people crossing it in all directions, it's an incredible scene to see.
You can cross the crossing with your own feet or observe the multitude of human beings from several strategic points. In particular, the glass windows of the Starbucks cafe located in front (but getting a table next to the windows might be a mission impossible), or the walkway over the road within the Shibuya Mark City. Buy Shibuya Sky tickets online and save 200¥ Buy Shibuya Sky tickets online and save 200¥

Center Gai

A very famous pedestrian street in Shibuya (350 meters long), you can get there by crossing the well-known intersection and heading in the direction of the huge HMV sign.
Around this street there are a lot of music stores, clothes stores (also second-hand clothes), restaurants, bars and arcades. It is the birthplace of many Japanese youth fashion trends.

Dogenzaka

Dogenzaka, also known as the Love hotel hill, is an area with a high concentration of love hotels of all kinds and for all budgets. What are love hotels?
In recent years, besides the various love hotels, more and more red-light establishments have been opening.

Mandarake and Nintendo Store

If you love anime, manga or video games, heaven on earth exists and it is Akihabara. However, even in Shibuya you can find two interesting gems. One is Mandarake, a chain of stores selling action figures, manga and so on. A very large underground branch is located right in Shibuya (see map). Another one is the Nintendo Store, located on the 6th floor of the Parco shopping mall. Strange as it may seem, this is the only official store entirely dedicated to the Nintendo brand in all of Japan. There are only two such places in the world and they are located in Manhattan (New York City) and Tel Aviv (Israel) respectively. A place not to be missed for all lovers of the creator of world brands such as Super Mario, Pokemon and Zelda.

Nonbei Yokocho

A very little and unknown area of Shibuya, a neighborhood usually famous for its neon, fashion stores, department stores, nightclubs and crowds of young people.
Nonbei Yokocho is on the contrary a quite narrow street full of litte bars, you can get there easily from the Hackiko exit of Shibuya station, passing through the underpass under the tracks and turning immediately left. The bars are very small, similar to those of Golden Gai in Shinjuku, perhaps they're even smaller, with very few seats.
A strange characteristic is that all these bars don't have their own toilets, but they share some public toilets out in the street.
If you can't speak japanese, it's highly recommended to go there with some japanese friends.

Where to stay in Shibuya

Shibuya is a very recommended neighborhood where to stay, since it has a very active nightlife, and its position is also perfect as a starting point to visit the other areas of the city.

In this area there aren't so many hotels, and most of them belong to a high price range.
If you have lots of money to spend I recommend you a room with city view at the Tokyu Excel Hotel or the Cerulean Tower hotel, but we are talking about at least 20,000 yen per night.
One of the cheapest in the area (but not so cheap, sometimes you can find good offers) is the Shibuya Tobu hotel, another one is the Shibuya Tokyu REI Hotel.

For those who have no money the Bagus internet cafe inside the building with the HMV sign is perfect, in central position, and it is not the only internet cafe in the area, there are others.

Eating in Shibuya

How to get to Shibuya

Shibuya station is a very congested station served by several lines. You can get there easily from many areas of the city.

JR lines: Yamanote line, Saikyō Line, Shōnan–Shinjuku Line.

Tokyo Metro lines: Ginza line, Hanzomon Line, Fukutoshin Line.

Other private lines: Keio Inokashira line, Tōkyū Den-en-toshi line, Tōkyū Tōyoko line (very useful to/from Yokohama).

You could get to Shibuya also on foot from Harajuku area or even from Shinjuku (a very long walk in the latter case).

Map of Shibuya, Tokyo

Guided tours, activities and other things to do

If you are planning a trip to Japan and you want to do something more than just visiting famous places and monuments, we suggest you to use Rakuten Travel Experiences.

How to use Rakuten Travel Experiences

Rakuten Travel is a very useful website to enrich your travel experience, especially if you are going solo or it's your first time in Japan.
Because of the language barrier (and more), in Japan it is very difficult to interact with the locals and to get off the tourist track.
Thanks to Rakuten Travel you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes unique guided tours and activities all over Japan (and not only in Japan), that you would otherwise never be able to enjoy.
But there's more: on Rakuten Travel you can also buy tickets for several famous attractions, events, transportation and other useful services for tourists. Last but not least, you can reserve a table in hundreds of restaurants.

Some examples

• You can buy tickets in advance to visit some very popular attractions and skip the queue at the ticket office, such as the Tokyo Tower, the Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo Disneyland or Universal Studios Osaka
• You can book unique and funny tours and activities, like driving around Tokyo or Osaka on a go-kart dressed as Super Mario, or dueling with real Sumo Wrestlers
• You can learn about traditional Japan, for example by joining a tea ceremony in Kyoto or by attending a crash course on Japanese Calligraphy
• You can reserve your table in a lot of cafes and restaurants, for example one of the legendary 3-star Michelin restaurants in Japan, or crazy cafes like a unique Owl Cafe in Tokyo or one of the many and nowadays worldwide famous maid cafes
• ...

Take a look at Rakuten Travel Experiences

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