Review: Shibuya Crossing

What’s this place all about?
Rather than direct the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic simultaneously, the Shibuya Crossing halts all cars and signals multidirectional foot traffic to cross every 80 seconds, giving the intersection its nickname, “the Shibuya scramble.” It is estimated that between 1,000 and 3,000 people crowd the crossing on an average signal change, and anywhere from a quarter to a half million people make the run every day. Whatever the actual numbers, Shibuya Crossing is generally accepted as the world’s busiest intersection. 

What else will we notice?
Massive video screens flashing advertisements tower above every corner as black-suited salarymen, wide-eyed tourists, and bag-toting shoppers wait and cross in concert. The feeling is oddly soothing, a reminder that whatever our disparate paths in life, they all have a tendency to cross at one time or another.

Who comes here?
Most people passing through the scramble are either going to or coming from Shibuya Station, the second busiest train station in the world.

Did it meet your expectations?
When making the crossing yourself it is hard to grasp the scale of the exchange of so many bodies from one corner to another, but watching from the station’s pedestrian skybridge on the intersection’s southern edge or the second story Starbucks on the northern corner can be hypnotic.

Who do you think it’s best for?
Anyone remotely impressed that Tokyo is the most populated city in the world should visit Shibuya Crossing. The best time to go is at dusk, one of the scramble’s peak times and in its most flattering light. The Shibuya Scramble Square tower above Shibuya station offers a birds’ eye view of the famous crossing, along with panoramic vistas of the city from the Shibuya Sky rooftop observatory, perched 230 meters above street level.