Caught in the Mix of the Shibuya Scramble, a True Tokyo Tourist Trap

Where: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

December 14, 2010 at 12:40 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

What are some of the biggest tourist traps in Tokyo? When we were there recently, we tried to figure that out and came up mostly empty. There's the Meiji Jingu shrine, but that's visited by just as many locals as tourists, and even the showy shopping districts of Ginza and Aoyama see plenty Japanese in indulging in a bit of being tourists in their own country. And then we remembered the infamous Shibuya Scramble, the intersection outside of the crazy busy Shibuya Station, and we headed into the fray to see what all the fuss is about...

The Scramble before the light turns

Because the Shibuya area is such a shopping, dining and entertainment district, there is a constant flow of people into its center, which begins outside the Hachikō exit of the station. Here there is a ginormous intersection, with pedestrian crosswalks every which way, and there's almost no hour of the day that sees it quiet.

Foreign tourists set up shop at the windows of the second-floor Starbucks—one of the busiest in the world—in order to get the best photos of the frenzy below. We admit to being one of them, and you can see the results here with our video and images.

Mid-scramble

Actually crossing the Scramble isn't nearly as bad as it looks. Everyone has a definite destination, whether it's the painfully trendy Shibuya 109 mall, the 100 Yen store, the aforementioned Starbucks, or the Love Hotels and standing sushi restaurants up on Dogenzaka. And if we had to name one major tourist trap in Tokyo, it'd be the Starbucks here, no doubt. Avoid that if you can, but the Scramble is a must (and free!) do.

[Photos and video: Cynthia Drescher for Jaunted]

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