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Special ward in Tokyo, Japan
Photo: Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Shibuya (渋谷) is a shopping and eating district of Tokyo popular with a lot of young Tokyoites. It deserves a prize for having more two-story televisions than any other area in the world.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
The famous crossing sees people crossing in every direction en masse. The second floor of the Starbucks has been a great spot to take photos of the crazy pedestrian crossing. The coffee shop closed in 2023 for renovation of the building and is due to reopen late April 2024 with a larger cafe/lounge.
ハチ公
A diminutive statue of a dog tucked away in one corner of the big plaza outside the station, best known as a meeting place and for the story (see box). It is also the name of one of the many exits from Shibuya Station and the prime meeting place before a night out. Just hanging out near Hachiko for a while will give you some great people-watching.
センター街 Sentaa-gai
The narrow street leading away from the station to the left of the giant video screen, it's famous as the birthplace of many of Japan's youth fashion trends. Center Gai is jam-packed with clothing stores, music stores, and video game arcades. This is a great place to stroll and feel the Shibuya vibe.
モヤイ像
Another popular meeting spot, this time on the south side of the station, the two Moyai statues here are a spin on Easter Island's famous moai, made from volcanic pumice on Niijima in the Izu Islands far south of Tokyo. This, not the originals, was the inspiration for the 🗿 emoji.
Bunkamura-dori. A complex featuring an excellent art museum, in addition to theaters for film and stage plays. On the basement floor there's an art and design bookstore as well as a branch of Paris' famous Les Deux Magots café.
渋谷ヒカリエ
Hikarie is a massive building on the east side of Shibuya Station with many restaurants, galleries, and theaters. Opened in 2012.
明日の神話, Ashita no shinwa
A huge mural by famous artist Tarō Okamoto, it commemorates the Hiroshima atomic bombing. A human figure in it burns and others appear to run from flames. The mural is at the entrance of the Inokashira line, 100 m from Hachikō. It was built in Mexico, found there in 2004 and brought to Japan in 2005. Under repair from Oct 2023.
山種美術館, Yamatane bijutsukan
Specializes in modern Japanese-style paintings and has a notable collection, though only a handful are on display at one time due to preservation issues.
sometimes called DoCoMo Tower
This gigantic tower resembling a granite Empire State Building, south of the Shinjuku Station, is owned by NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest cell-phone carrier. The upper part of the building is a mobile communications tower.
東京アニメセンター
Offers information, showings, demonstrations, and events centered around animation and gaming. In the recording studio, visitors can experience a post-recording on certain days.
くじら屋
The specialty and only food here is whale meat dishes, which are very rare elsewhere. Human consumption of whale meat is controversial and has been denounced by detractors on grounds of wildlife conservation, toxicity, and animal rights. The restaurant hands out pro-whaling propaganda pamphlets.
ムルギー
Founded in 1951, when the owner decided to serve the kind of curry he had enjoyed in Burma before World War II.
東急フードショー
A superb food section in the basement with enough free samples to make a full lunch, if you don't mind not having a place to sit.
Trendy foreigner-friendly eatery specializing in soba, with a separate sushi bar in the back.
Kinoshita makes eating French food in Japan justifiable. Some say that with its underpriced menu, dinner courses for ¥3800-¥7000, and weekday lunches for ¥1800, this restaurant is considered one of the best kept secrets in Tokyo. But in fact it is popular, and reservations are mandatory. Menu in French and Japanese.
うどん 慎
Although it is Shibuya in terms of address, it is a udon store closer to Shinjuku. It is cost-effective and features homemade udon noodles.
江戸前割烹 三是寿司
It is a sushi restaurant located in Shibuya, but close to Shinjuku Station. The lunch special features cost-effectiveness.
カフェ・アプレミディ
Jazzy cafe with 1960s decor in moody lighting. Excellent food, try the quiche, although portions are small.
ビートカフェ
Small cafe-bar-restaurant catering to the young alternative rock crowd. While showing constant videos from VH1 Classic on their TV, the easy drinking, simple eating crowd is about as friendly as they come. If you can't talk in your own native language, you can always discuss music.
Great coffee and delicious sandwiches, with a warm smile.
Down to earth smoke-free British-style pub, with a large number of Japanese and international beers on tap and a large collection of British Rock music on vinyl.
Outlet of the famous British micro-brewer Wychwood Brewery.
Bar石の華
Acclaimed high-end bar serving up drinks that are more works of art than cocktails. You may reserve seats from the English webpage.
Multi-room nightclub that plays a mix of hip-hop, r&b, and techno/house in their different areas. Most of the clientele is of a younger crowd (ages 20-25). Friday's entrance fee is only ¥1000 (including two drinks).
Owned by Vanilla, this club houses three dance floors with music ranging from psychedelic trance to hip-hop.
Popular for trance music all night long.
Large two-floor all hip-hop club. Foreigners may not be admitted unless they bring along a Japanese friend.
One of Tokyo's largest clubs, designed by the people behind New York's Twilo and the setting of a scene in Babel.
Upscale club of mostly locals that have live jazz bands and DJs. Music ranges from jazz, electro, to Euro rock.
A smaller, friendly club that specialised in underground techno, fairly well hidden on 7F of an office building. It's certainly one of the cheaper spots in the area.
A popular high-end hotel near the station. Also contains a large office complex, as well as some very expensive restaurants. It provides free Wi-Fi, and you can use fitness and swimming pools for free when you stay.
A popular high-end hotel. There is a breakfast service, and guests can use fitness for free.
Part of the Tokyu Stay chain, this hotel is popular with business travelers. Small kitchenettes, washer/dryers, and free LAN access in all rooms makes these a good value.
This is another outlet of the same chain. You can keep your luggage, and you can rent an LAN and charger. Breakfast service is provided.
Massive shop devoted to manga, anime, hentai, dojinshi, figurines and collectible offshoots.
Marui
Department store with all of the usual high-end brands. Closed in 2022 for re-building, reopen due 2026.
Ichi-maru-kyu
Teenage fashion. Worth an escalator trip. The name is a wordplay on Tokyu, its owner company: 10 is toh and 9 is kyu in Japanese.
Used and new record dealer with floors each specializing in punk, rock, jazz and dance music.
Good shopping for second-hand music in this cavernous hall: all records are categorized and alphabetized for quick browsing, and prices start at ¥100.
For a while the largest record store in the world, now merely mind-bogglingly huge. Good selection of English books and magazines on the top floor, in addition to 6 other floors of J-pop, Western rock, jazz, classical and DVDs.
ハンズ渋谷店
Long known as Tokyu Hands, acquired by another company in 2022. Promoted as "Creative Life Store", Hands has everything from do-it-yourself, interior, hobby, crafts, outdoors to stationery and more. The Shibuya store spans eight floors.
Loft is Seibu's answer to Tokyu Hands, also offering a large array of products related to interior, hobby, crafts and gifts, but with less strong emphasis on do-it-yourself. The Loft Shibuya branch consists of seven floors.
By train
Shibuya's station is a notoriously convoluted web of passageways. Follow the signage and you should find your way out (or in).
Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
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