Welcome to Shibuya, which is the most harmonically chaotic town of all.

Shibuya, especially the north-west side of JR Shibuya Station, is the most harmonically chaotic town in the world. I hope everybody who visits Tokyo for sight seeing from a foreign country comes to Shibuya. Exactly you can enjoy the exiting hustle and bustle by only standing in front of the “Shibuya-Ekimae” intersection. I will be happy if some tips of my blog as below help you have more fun.

At the Shibuya-Ekimae intersection

Approximately five hundred thousand people pass through this intersection every day. Nevertheless the area around this intersection always poises in a time between tumult and harmony. At the time when the traffic signals turn green, about a maximum of five thousand people comes and goes simultaneously. They scramble without bumping to each other on two diagonals and four edges of the square intersection, and many foreign travelers stay in the intersection in order to take photographs. After the lights turning red they disappear from the intersection, many vehicles come and go out the intersection with noise, it continues over and over again from morning to night. People who see others for the first time have no prior promise and no prior exercise, but a wondrous harmony of the intersection controls it.

Why does it happen? The first cause that generates a organic chaos is the big figures of the passing people. Many people come to Shibuya with their various faces, which includes a high-class resident face, a fashionable young or adult face, a face of entertainment and sub-cultures, a face for eating or drinking, a face for working, a welcoming face for foreigners and a joyful face for seeing it. This area around the intersection pulls people and pushes them for many purpose. They have no relationship with each other at a glance, but their walking with energy makes an organic chaos naturally.

The second is the unique topography around this intersection. The Shibuya-Ekimae intersection is on the bottom of a gentle valley. People come here from a higher place, stay at the bottom and go away to a higher place. They are like water poured in a hot iron dish. Moreover interestingly, streets which radiates like dendritic lines from the intersection are able to have many walking people, the jungle of buildings like leaves hides people and nine railways swallow them up. As a result the passed people from here vanish themselves like an evaporation as soon as possible.

Do reconfirmation of undying love with your partner.

You should see the movement around this intersection from the open space of Hachiko nearby JR Shibuya Station without rushing. In addition I want you to turn your head to the statue of Hachiko. I will write about the story of Hachiko, after reading it you will notice the deeply subconscious fascination of Shibuya. You can know the story of Hachiko by seeing the impressive Japanese movie “The story of Hachiko” or the Hollywood movie “Hachiko a dog’s story” played by Richard Gere. If you feel like it, pat the body of Hachiko’s statue loveingly.

A day in 1923 a 50 day old Akita puppy was sent to Shibuya Station from Akita prefecture. A professor, who was the new owner of the puppy was living near Shibuya. He named the puppy Hachiko because the form of the puppy’s forelegs was like the kanji character “hachi”(eight). And “ko” means a prince. The professor thought that a human had to respect a dog because the dog had a heart and soul.

He loved Hachiko deeply and Hachiko loved the professor too.

He walked around with Hachiko, bathed with Hachiko and slept with Hachiko. After a shot time Hachiko who go to Shibuya Station with his owner in the morning noticed that his owner would come back from Shibuya Station. Then when his owner was absent from his house, Hachiko went to the station in the evening in order to see him and waited until his coming back.

A lovely year for them passed. Suddenly the professor was dead during a lesson with his students. After his funeral Hachiko was given away to a new owner far from Shibuya. Nonetheless Hachiko returned to Shibuya by himself. Hachiko waited at Shibuya Station in the morning and in the evening even in rain or snow in order to welcome back the dearest owner. As a matter of course Hachiko couldn’t see him, but Hachiko never stopped waiting for him at the station for ten years until Hachiko’s death.

People sensed an empathy and a compassion for Hachiko’s wholehearted behavior and loved Hachiko. At last a newspaper noted Hachiko’s devotion. Having said that, Hachiko was a stray dog, some people hated Hachiko (in the movie the scene was depicted) .finally People made the statue of Hachiko in order to give praise to Hachiko’s devotion and the undying love for his owner.

Shibuya has been transformed by the people who have various faces and Shibuya will undergo further transformation in the future. Whatever changes, as long as people never forget the story of Hachiko, Shibuya will keep the poise between its excitement and its heartfelt fun.