Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shibuya
ौ୩
As a mind-blowing introduction to contemporary Tokyo, it's hard to beat
Shibuya
,
birthplace of a million-and-one consumer crazes, and best visited at night when the
neon signs of restaurants, bars and cinemas battle it out with five-storey TV screens
for the attention of passers-by. This blaze of lights doesn't get much brighter than
around the plaza on the west side of Shibuya Station, where you'll also find one of
the most famous
pedestrian crossings
in the world outside London's Abbey Road
- its stock only rose further following its depiction in the film
Lost in Translation
.
A perch from which to view the crowds of people swarming across is the bridge
corridor linking the JR station with Shibuya Mark City complex. This space has
been put to excellent use as the gallery for Okamoto Tarō's fourteen-panel painting
Myth of Tomorrow
(
Asu no Shinwa
), a 30m-long mural depicting the moment the
atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. Originally created in 1969 for a luxury hotel
in Mexico, then lost for decades, this powerful work seldom seems to stop the
rushing commuters in their tracks.
East of Shibuya station you'll spy the tall
Shibuya Hikarie
building, while immediately
west of the crossing, the
109 Building
stands at the apex of Bunkamura-dōri and
Dōgenzaka, the latter leading up to
Dōgenzaka
(
ಓݰࡔ
), one of Tokyo's most famous
love-hotel districts. This area is named after Owada Dōgen, a thirteenth-century
highwayman who robbed travellers on their way through the then isolated valley.
Running parallel to the north of Bunkamura-dōri is the pedestrianized
Centre Gai
(
ηϯλʔ֗
), always packed with trend-obsessed Tokyoites gathering to create or spot
the latest look.
10
SHOPPING
CA4LA
Fake Tokyo
Mandarake
Tōkyū
Tōkyū Hands
Tower Records
CAFÉS
24/7 Coffee
Lion
LOHB
Maidreamin
BARS, CLUBS AND LIVE VENUES
BYG
Club Asia
Club Quattro
Cozmo's Café & Bar
Fujiya Honten
Gas Panic
Goodbeer Faucets
JZ Brat
Karaoke-kan
Keivi
RESTAURANTS
Ganso Kujiraya
Gonpachi
Hanamaru
Murugi
Rāmen Nagi
Respekt
Sushi Ōuchi
Underground
Mr Zoogunzoo
Uobei
1
5
4
6
2
3
2
8
10
4
12
13
3
4
17
10
9
18
5
19
Legato
The Lockup
Microcosmos
Red Bar
The Ruby Room
Shibuya O-East
Stand S
Three Coin Bar
Womb
16
6
8
7
11
14
1
2
15
7
13
1
11
12
3
6
5
9
ACCOMMODATION
Capsule & Sauna Century Shibuya
Cerulean Tower Tōkyū Hotel
Granbell Hotel
Unizo
2
3
4
1
Cinema
Rise
SHIBUYA
Bunkamura
N
Shibuya
DŌGENZAKA
Shibuya
109 Building
Hachikō
Shibuya
Hikarie
Shibuya
Station
Myth of
Tomorrow
S H
U T O E X
P R E S W
A Y 3
Shibuya City
Konnō
Hachimangū
Shrine
Cerulean Tower
Nō Theatre
0
100
SHIBUYA
metres
