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The 18 Most Fun Things To Do In Shibuya

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The 18 Most Fun Things To Do In Shibuya

Shibuya is the most stylish and must visit area for young generations in Tokyo.
Shibuya is trendy spot but full of places where Japanese culture and life are rooted.
The 18 Most Fun Things To Do In Shibuya introduce sightseeing, shopping, dining spots and also the things you can do only in Shibuya to experience Japanese actual life and trend.

Contents

Things To Do | Must Visit Places In Shibuya

Must Visit Places In Shibuya cover must visit sites ranging from Shibuya’s historical construction, park, shrine to the busiest scramble crossing in the world known as scenes of cinemas.

Hachiko Statue

Statue of Hachiko

Located in front of Hachiko exit of Shibuya st., Hachiko, the bronze statue of Japanese Akita dog is the most popular meeting spot in Japan.
The statue of Hachiko was made on the basis of the true lovely story of the dog Hachi and his owner:

” The owner of Hachi was prof. Ueno of Tokyo Univ. Hachi loved prof. Ueno so much that Hachi saw him off every morning and went to meet him every evening at Shibuya st.
But one day the professor suddenly died of stroke.
Even after his death Hachi waited for his loving owner at Shibuya st. every day, even in rainy, windy and snowy days for 10 years!!
This became the news article and Hachi came to be loved by many people as loyal dog.
Now Hachi peacefully sleeps with his loving prof. Ueno at Aoyama cemetery.
Hachi’s life had been worldwidely known before the Pacific War and the bronze statue of Hachiko was completed in 1934.
When Helen Keller visited Akita prefecture in 1937 she was reportedly so moved by story of Hachi that she brought Akita dog back home.
People in the world were deeply impressed with Hachi’s universal love.

Yoyogi Park

Yoyogi park

Yoyogi park is Tokyo’s 4th largest park having area of 54.1ha.
After being used as Tokyo 1964 Olympic village, Yoyogi park was renovated and opened.
In Yoyogi park you can observe seasonally different nature and bird and the good athletic facilities are equipped, and
the live concert, event and free market are held in the wide open space.
The facility in Yoyogi park : the stadium for soccer and futsal
outdoor basket ball court
rental cycle center
outdoor stage event space

Shibuya Scramble Crossing

Shibuya scramble crossing

What is Shibuya Scramble Crossing ?

Shibuya Scramble Crossing is located north west of Shibuya st., and more than 1000 people crossing Shibuya Scramble is the scenery to symbolize Tokyo.
Around 300,000 to 500,000 people cross Shibuya Scramble one day.
Recommended spot to shoot a photo is higher place like the passage way between Shibuya st., and Shibuya Mark city, where you can take a panoramic photo.
Rainy day is also recommendable, when dynamic photo and movie can be shot while colorful umbrellas gather in one direction and separate to five directions.

Meiji shrine

What is Meiji shrine ?

Meiji shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his consort Empress Shoken.
Meiji shrine was founded in 1920 after their deaths.
Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne in 1868 at the age of 15, at the peak of Meiji Restoration when power was returned to the Emperor from the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate.
Meiji Emperor is famous for transforming Japan during his reign from an isolated feudal country into a modern world power.
Meiji shrine is listed as the most popular shrine and around three million people visit on the first three days of the New Year.

Kiyomasa-ido

Kiyomasa-ido is a rare well of spring water where 60 liters of water gush out per minute.
It is said that Kiyomasa-ido was named after Kiyomasa Kato, samurai of civil war era, who dug the well but it’s not known whether this is true story or not.
Meiji shrine has become popular power spot where the visitor’s evil sprits will be driven away and fortune will turn for the better since a lot of water spring out incessantly.
If you use the photo of Kiyomasa Ido for your standby display of smart phone, it will enhance your power !!

Things To Do | Pigging Out In Shibuya

Things To Do | Pigging Out In Shibuya introduce foods you can experience in Shibuya ranging from Izakaya bar, Kaiten Conveyor belt Sushi to Dagashi, cheap sweets.

Nonbei Yokocho

Nonbei yokocho

What is Nonbei Yokocho?

Opened in 1950 soon after the world WarⅡ, Nonbei Yokocho alley is located only 3min walk from Shibuya st. Hachiko exit in the center of Shibuya.
The retro Nonbei Yokocho alley is lined with around 39 unique izakaya bars, many of which are such a small bar that 7 or 8 customers touch each other.

What kind of restaurants or shops are there ?

Many are Oden, Yakitori (skewered chicken) shops, wine bar and French restaurants.

Kaiten Zushi

Conveyor Sushi

What’s Kaiten Zushi ?

Kaiten Zushi is Sushi restaurant where many kinds of Sushi are conveyed on the rails to your table.
Kaiten Zushi is popular eat out spot for families with kids as Sushi is cheap and can be casually eaten.
Wide variety of Sushi are served for the customers to eat high quality fatty tuna, salmon roe at low price.
Other various side menu are served, like dessert, udon, rahmen and noodles.

3 popular Kaiten Zushi in Tokyo

Sushiro

Sushiro serves one plate of two sushi by reasonable price ranging from 100yen to 300yen.
Events are periodically held for mainly kids.
Selected parts of tuna are offered in various cooking style of pickled, roasted and fried tuna.

URL: https://www.akindo-sushiro.biz/en/

Kura sushi

100 yen Sushi chain restaurant
Kura sushi uses only rice made in Japan and black vinegar as sushi vinegar.

URL:　https://www.kurasushi.co.jp/en/

Kaiten zushi triton

Kaiten Zushi shop serving sea foods from Hokkaido.
You can taste the best sushi with well-balanced freshness and sweetness.

URL :　http://toriton-kita1.jp/english/

Shibuya Dagashi Bar

Dagashi Bar

What is Dagashi ?

Dagashi means cheap sweets. You can buy some dagashi for 10yen.
Many Japanese used to buy cheap sweets at dagashi shop in childhood; some after school, some for school’s excursion.

What is Shibuy Dagashi bar ?

At Shibuya Dagashi bar located around 2 min walk from Shibuya st. Hachiko exit, the customer can eat dagashi as much as possible for 500 yen from 100 selections of snack, gumi, ramne, candy and chocolate, etc.
Unique menu is ” Monja harumaki “ mixed with baby star rahmen and “Jagarico” as potato salad.

URL : http://www.dagashi-bar.com/
Location : 3 min walk from JR Shibuya station
Opens : 4:00pm – 11:30pm on Monday to Friday
3:00pm – 11:30pm on Sat. Sun and holiday
Regular closing day : Dec 31th – Jan.3

Cerulean Tower

Shibuya Cerulean Tower

Cerulean Tower is high rise complex tower with concept “International exchanging base for spreading information and culture during 24 hours to the world ” .
Cerulean Tower has luxury hotel, Office and Nogakudo or Noh performance hall.

Recommended bar in the tower : TOWER’S BAR “BELLOVISTO”
Located at 150m high on 40th floor of Cerulean Tower where the visitors can enjoy best quality space
BELLOVISTO means “Beautiful scenery” in Spanish.
TOWER’S BAR “BELLOVISTO was renovated in September, 2018 as space where high quality dish, drink and music can be enjoyed.
The visitors can taste healing afternoon tea in daytime, and best liquor in relaxing time at night

URL : https://www.tokyuhotels.co.jp/cerulean-h/restaurant/bellovisto/index.html

Location : 5 min walk from Shibuya st West exit
Opens : 4:00pm – 1:00am (next day) on Monday – Friday
1:30pm – 1:00am (next day) on Sat. Sun and holiday
No regular closing day

Things To Do | Be Into Shopping In Shibuya

Shibuya Hikarie

Opened in 2012 Shibuya Hikarie is a high-rise multipurpose commercial facility with 34 floors and 4 floors underground.
Hikarie has a department store, restaurant, musical theatre and offices.
“ShinQs” is shopping area from underground 3^rd floor to 5^th floor including around 200 shops, over 70% of which are the first opening shop in Shibuya.
Underground floor is mainly lined with fashion and life style related shops.
Fashion shops are dressy and casual targeting the ladies of wide generations.

URL : https://www.tokyu-dept.co.jp/shinqs/

Directly connected to JR/Keio Inogashira line “Shibuya” st on the 2^nd floor.
Directly connected to Tokyo Metro Ginza line “Shibuya” st on the 1^st floor.
Directly connected to Tokyu Toyoko, Denentoshi, Tokyo Metro Hanzo line, Fukutoshin Line “Shibuya” st. B5 Exit.
Opens : 11:00am – 8:00pm
No regular closing day

Tokyu Hands

Shibuya Tokyu Hands

Tokyu Hands with motto “Hint market”, offers useful hint for life and seasonal recommended products information.
Tokyu Hands sells wide variety of goods such as stationery, cosmetics, cleaning, DIY goods, outdoor goods and kitchen utensils, etc.

URL :　https://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/en/

Location : around 8 min walk from JR Shibuya st. Hacjhiko exit.
Opens : 10:00am – 9:00pm
No regular closing day

Shibuya 109

Opened in 1979, Shibuya 109 is a cylindrical shaped fashion building standing out in front of Hachiko exit.
Since Amuro Namie, vocalist had a break out in 1990s, shibuya area came to be full of gals. Shibuya 109 became a centerpiece of gal fashion.
Pretty and fashionable charisma sales parson appeared in Shibuya 109, and became a popular topic of magazine, TV programs.
Shibuya 109 is changing and announces the trend.

URL : https://www.shibuya109.jp/
Location : around 2 min walk from JR Shibuya Hachiko exit
Opens : 10:00am – 9:00pm on shopping floor
No regular closing days : opens 7 days a week except New Years

Takeshita Street

Takeshita street

Takeshita Dori is a shopping street in front of Takeshita Dori exit of Harajuku st., stretching 350km with several alleys full of many unique shops.
Gathering attention as the source of Kawaii culture, Takeshita street is lined with fashionable shops for teen agers and young generations.
In 1980s “Takenoko zoku” wearing clothes of “Boutique Takenoko” and acting performances at Takeshita street drew attention.
Takenoko zoku danced weird dance near Yoyogi park as if forgetting daily life. Their performance became a social phenomena those days, and boutique “Takenoko” still dot the street.
Nowadays shops sell more and more variety, fashion goods targeting middle / high school students, and instagrammable sweets.

Shibuya Center Gai

Located just on the other side of the Shibuya scramble crossing, Shibuya center gai is a street lined with a lot of fast fashion shops and chain restaurants.
When you go forward to the Dogen zaka area you can find nice shops and restaurants.
Clubs along Center Gai open till early in the morning, where worldwide DJ and performers play.

Uniqulo

UNIQLO

As an abbreviation for Unique Clothing Warehouse, Uniqulo means a brand that the customer can freely select and buy unique casual fashion. Uniqulo has over 2252 shops world wide.

What’s UNIQLO U ?

Collaboration line with Chistophe Lemaire who was an artistic director of Hermes.
Line up is more expensive around 1000 yen than usual Uniqlo products, but popular because the customer can buy highly designed products at reasonable price.

UNIQLO Shibuya Dogenzaka

https://map.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/detail/10101307

Location : around 5 min walk from JR Yamanote line Shibuya st. Hachiko exit
Opens : 11:00am – 8:00pm
No regular closing day

Tower Record

Landed in Japan as a business dept. of US Tower Record in 1979, Tower Record started wholesale business of imported record.
Tower Record opened the first shop in Sapporo in 1980 and the 2^nd in Shibuya in 1981.
Spacious floor is orderly lined with wide variety of records which are reasonably priced and attached with handwritten recommendation POP.
The innovative super marketing sales style has drawn attention from many music freaks.
Tower record, Shibuya moved to the present address of Jin-nan 1chome in 1995, selling music and film products. “
Tower Books” floor opened as base for information of music and peripheral culture, and mega shop started with the world biggest storage of 700,000 records and shopping floor of 54000 square feet. is the most stylish and must visit area for young generations in Tokyo.

Shibuya is trendy spot but full of places where Japanese culture and life are rooted.
The 18 Most Fun Things To Do In Shibuya introduce sightseeing, shopping, dining spots and also the things you can do only in Shibuya to experience Japanese actual life and trend.

Things To Do　｜　Spend A Day Like Actual Japanese

Spend A Day Like Actual Japanese suggests how the travelers experience the real life like actual Japanese do by three things : riding a crowded train during commuting hour, taking Purikura like Japanese teens and young generations enjoy and bathing and relaxing in spacious public bath designed with Japanese sceneries like Mt.Fuji and etc.

Riding a Crowded Train

What’s crowded train ?

The peak time of crowded train is from 7:30am to 9:00am for many office workers and schoolers to go office or school. The crowded train sometimes has the boarding rate of 250%.
The station platform is always crowded with commuters as all the train is filled to capacity during rush hour.
If you have some baggage at train you should avoid this commuting hour.
Why don’t you experience stressful morning rush hour it may be good memory in Tokyo?

Purikura

What’s Purikura ?

Purikura, abbreviation for Print club is a device for getting the photo of your face printed on the seal.
Purikura is affordable 400yen and popular among the teen agers and young generations.
Time is set for scribbling after taking a picture, so you can make the original graffiti on the screen of the special booth.

Where can you take a purikura in Shibuya ?

Mecca of purikura

The shops opened in 1990s when Shibuya was the holy ground for gal.
Now it is a Purikura spot special for lady and operated for 24hours.

Location : around 5 min walk from Shibuya st. Hachiko exit
Opens : 24 hours
No regular closing day

Public Bath

Public bath, Kairyoyu

What’s public bath ?

Public bath is popular as it has a large bath tab in a wide space so that you can relax.
In many public bath Mt Fuji and other Japanese like scenery are depicted on the wall tile, and Sudare Japanese short curtain is hung at the entrance and wooden locks are used for locking the shoe cupboard, so you can feel good old Japanese atmosphere.
The entrance fee for a public bath is determined by each prefecture in Japan.
Tokyo : 470 yen for over 12yrs old
180 yen for 6yrs to younger than 12yrs
80 yen for less than 6yrs