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Watch this video on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/citybeautiful-why-is-shibuya-crossing-the-busiest-in-the-world
Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is considered the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. Why is that particular intersection the busiest? It’s a story involving transit-oriented development, a loyal dog, and international tourism.
Thanks to Mike Boswell for the topic suggestion!
Resources on this topic:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429426087-12/shibuya-crossing-non-tourist-site-fumiaki-takaoka
https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/the-51-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world-all-but-6-located-in-japan
Takaoka, F. (2020). Shibuya Crossing as a non-tourist site: Performative participation and re-staging. In Understanding Tourism Mobilities in Japan (pp. 158-169). Routledge.
Balsas, C. J. (2020). The Crisis of Successful Places–Shibuya’s Case. International Journal of Crisis Communication, 4(1), 1-10.
Reggiani, M. (2022). Urban regeneration strategies and place development in contemporary Tokyo: the case of Shibuya Station area. Journal of Place Management and Development, 15(1), 40-54.
Produced by Dave Amos and the fine folks at Nebula Studios.
Written by Dave Amos.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
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33 Comments
It was until the 2000s when Shibuya is getting mega skyscrapers since its located in a valley restricting it. Reason the Ginza subway is elevated at the terminus. The area is always under construction. Tokyu Denentoshi connects to Hanzomon subway and Toyoko connects to Fukutoshin subway. Also Keio Inokashira terminates in Shibuya.
can't even watch your videos cause your ads play on a never ending loop, how greedy can you be?
Been many times in Tokyo, and obviously several times at this crossing. I mean, your first visit to Tokyo just isn't complete without having a drink at the Starbucks (even when I dislike that place…) overlooking the ants below you crossing the street. Another fun experience was after a early morning visit to the old Tsukiji Market, this place should be crazy during morning rush hour right? No, not really. The station was absolutely packed, but the area around the station isn't so much a business area and thus only comes to life a few hours later. And then I've been to the 2017 Halloween thing, and it was kinda insane: An incredible ammount of people (there's a video on my channel), but everything still felt very calm and organized. It's a shame they now banned that whole thing….
Dude, I enjoy this channel and learning more about urban planning, but please, EASE UP on heart rending stories that make me cry!
1:48 The big Halloween festivities that used to take place in Shibuya are now BANNED. The ban began in 2023, and continues in 2024. This was done in response to the crowd crush that occurred in Seoul in 2022, where over a hundred people died. Parts of Shibuya are now blocked off on Halloween, and officials will not allow people to gather there. Only in Japan Go has a good episode about it: https://www.youtube.com/live/srrmHU0WXo4?si=ztvdz0En67_QfoRq
5:03 Interesting to note, "Washington Heights" is a name that transliterates into Japanese unusually well, for English: 「ワシントン・ハイツ」 ("washinton haitsu"). 😸
Note to people planning to come for Halloween! Unfortunately the popularity of the event has led to a major local backlash against the partying resulting in major restrictions on people going to Shibuya on the few days around Halloween. Plan accordingly.
The later the day the more people for some reason
"International Intersection Certification Committee" You #$%^ing got me with that one. I literally said, "huh who knew such a thing…" before you dropped the punchline. I can't stop laughing at my gullibility.😆
It was a good watch but the number of butchered Japanese names overwhelmed me a bit
another reason is that there are some cringy tourists who suddenly stop and stand in the middle of it to be photographed
Its the busiest because nobody takes the correct exit from the station
自分は日本人で渋谷まで電車で1時間の所に住んでいます。
生まれも育ちもド田舎育ちで人混みが苦手です。
たまに飲み会などで渋谷にも行きますが、渋谷は再開発真っ只中で毎回30分は迷います😅
他の飲み会メンバー全員も、迷って遅れます😂
いつも思うのは、○○改札へはここから早く出られます。
と書いて欲しいなぁと。
Love Shobuya. Was my 4th station snd 2nd ward I visited my first day in Japan back in 2015. After leaving Haneda, took the Monorrail to Hamamatsucho, then went to Inage-to in Chiba-ku to stay with a friend. Finally, after a good lunch near Chiba daigaju I went To Akihabara as a good anime fan does. So after that, Shibuya crossong was my next target
I ended that day at Tochomae to visit the Observatory and then went back to Shinjuku-eki to go back Inage.
Fun fact, that scene from fast and furious where they drift through the shibuya crossing was done illegally, and I think might have even gotten arrested for it
Came here after JJK
Boring AF
I flew to Japam on a total whim and walked around the city and took the metro places. I had 0 plans and 0 knowlesge of the city. I found myself crossing Shibuya without know what it was. I went on Google maps to see why there were so many people crossing the same crosswalk.
I was there because i had googled book stores and i was following the instructions to one that looked interesting
Glad to see the people of Shibuya bounced back after the "incident"
I sat on the edge of that planter and smoked a couple cigarettes. Never felt so out of place in my life. To this day I don't know if that was illegal or not. Everything was freakishly clean for a huge city.
Those of us of culture know shibuya crossing for something more dark lol
The Shibuya incident
I work in Shibuya, so I'm watching your video while crossing the Shibuya crossing lol
Menteri Wilayah persekutuan Persekutuan DR Zaliha Cap ayam mesti adopted Tokyo's Pedestrian walkways without peniaga2 kaki lima warga asing yg merata-rata tempat di KL.
But what if they shut down all these lanes and make a large area with benches and such where people could hang out. Then leave openings large enough for emergency vehicles to get in or pass through if necessary. And, maybe at night or early hours in the morning (non peak hours) allow small trucks to pass through to deliver goods to shops that need them.
Japan is pretty good at public transit compared to many places in the world, but despite this it’s still a very car centric country. Buses are still late because they get stuck in traffic, ambulances move slower by being stuck behind cars, whole areas in cities require cars because they don’t have a nearby train line.
Don’t forget, we can always do better.
Addis Ababa Ethiopia can you make video about it please 👍👍👍👍👍🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹
Lol
OR Persona 5 fans 🤩
You missed some important context here. Shibuya established itself as the de facto cultural hub for young adults. It houses fashion and music stores as well as bars, nightclubs, and music venues, especially targeting the age group, so it gets busy, especially in the evening, not just on Fridays and weekends. On the other hand, Shinjuku was designed to be a transportation hub due to its surrounding business and government entities. As a result, Shinjuku station has a large surface area curved out for station use. This meant that the surrounding areas became more distinct geographically, and the station had to extend the reach of the exit. On top of this, Shinjuku station redesigned its infrastructure to bypass large road crossings right up to the station. That's why there are only very narrow streets next to the station which aliviate the need for traffic lights and mass of people waiting for it. Considering the collective society and centralized media portrayal of Japan, combined with the existence of famous landmarks like Hachiko, it makes sense that it is one of the busiest.
Shibuya is a valley.
Several of the busiest lines coming in do so at the SECOND OR THIRD FLOOR.
The B2 underground promenade serves the Fukutoshin/Toyoko Line and Hanzomon/Den-en-Toshi Lines.
A lot of people coming in on those lines will follow signs to the most appropriate exit.
People coming in on the 3rd floor aren't going to walk down to B2 to cross the street and then go back up 2 floors. When they get to ground level they're just going to exit. Keio, Ginza and in particular the Yamanote Lines all feed this, dumping people right next to the scramble. (Well, Ginza mostly dumps people farther east now, but by and large those people still funnel over to the crossing.
A lot more of the train infrastructure for Shinjuku dumps people out at B1 so people use the underground promenades to get to a more appropriate exit.
🚸🚦
Great video and concept but dang your pronunciation is giving me an eye twitch. Mostly stressing the wrong syllable in Shibuya and Hachiko.
So probably not the busiest…