If you had to reduce Tokyo to a single picture, it would probably be this one. More than 1,000 people crossing at once is something you may know from photographs, but standing inside the flow is nothing like it. In the few dozen seconds before the lights change, people pour in from every direction and then the space empties again. That repetition is the rhythm of the city. There are two ways to enjoy it. First, cross it yourself: the standard walk is to cross from the Shibuya Station side and head toward Center Gai, where hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants line the street. The other is to look down on it from above, and combining that with an observation spot in the same part of Shibuya gets you both sides at once — crossing and watching. Both the crowds and the light are stronger at night.
Why it stays with you