Tokyo / Shibuya

Shibuya渋谷

The crossing, the dog, the rooftop above it all — and the streets uphill where Tokyo's music, food and small-scale nightlife actually live.

Shibuya's scramble crossing is the image of Tokyo — three thousand people at each green light — and the new towers around the station have put a rooftop 230 metres above it. But Shibuya is a valley, and the interesting streets climb out of it: Dogenzaka's love hotels and clubs, the record shops of Udagawacho, the bars of Nonbei Yokocho under the railway, and up the hill to the north the quieter quarters of Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho with their bakeries and natural wine. It is the city's youth and its evening, and it is best entered around five.

One-day itineraries

One day · Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi, Harajuku, Shibuya

A Tokyo Sunday: the shrine at sunrise, the park at noon, the crossing at dusk, live music at nine

Sunday is the one day Tokyo takes off, and this is where it takes it: the forest of Meiji Shrine at first light, Yoyogi Park's lawns at noon when the whole city is picnicking, the fashion streets of Harajuku on the afternoon they are made for, and Shibuya as the lights come on — the crossing, the alley, a basement with four bands. Six kilometres on foot, one hill, and no reservation needed until dinner.

Harajuku & Meiji Shrine · Shibuya · 8 stops

Places (6)

Map of central Tokyo Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi 1 1. Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko 2 2. Shibuya Sky 3 3. Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys 4 4. Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage 5 5. Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho 6 6. Live music in Shibuya
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
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1 Landmark Essential

Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko渋谷スクランブル交差点とハチ公

Three thousand people per green light, a bronze dog who waited ten years, and the best free view from the station's upper floors.

30 min · Shibuya (JR / Ginza / Hanzomon / Fukutoshin lines, Tokyu, Keio), Hachiko exit
2 Viewpoint Worth it

Shibuya Sky渋谷スカイ

An open rooftop at 230 metres, with the crossing directly below and Fuji, the Tower and the Skytree around the horizon.

75 min · Shibuya, direct from the station's east side
3 District Worth it

Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleysのんべい横丁と渋谷の路地

"Drunkard's Alley" — forty bars of five seats each under the railway, unchanged since 1950, a minute from the crossing.

90 min · Shibuya (JR), Hachiko exit, 2 minutes along the tracks
4 District For a second visit

Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage宇田川町のレコード店と渋谷の古着

The densest square kilometre of record shops in the world — jazz, city pop, hip-hop, each on its own floor.

120 min · Shibuya, Hachiko exit, 5 minutes uphill past Tower Records
5 District For a second visit

Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho富ヶ谷と神山町

The quiet hill north of Shibuya — bakeries, natural wine, a bookshop-bar, and the streets where the city's creative people live.

90 min · Yoyogi-koen (Chiyoda line) or Yoyogi-Hachiman (Odakyu), 3 minutes
6 District For a second visit

Live music in Shibuya渋谷のライブハウス

From a two-hundred-capacity basement to WWW's former cinema — the small rooms where Japanese bands are found first.

180 min · Shibuya, Hachiko exit, all within 10 minutes

Experiences

Operators

Food