Shibuya

Tokyo is an expansive city; it probably doesn't take anyone who's been there to tell you that. However, without any experience, you probably have a clear picture in your mind's eye of what Tokyo looks like.

I count myself as extremely lucky to be able to say that I live only a couple stops on the Den-en-Toshi Line from the postmodern art piece that is Shibuya. 

The centre of this city is a tourist highlight - the Scramble Crossing. At the centre of the web, five different roads intersect to form the largest crossing in the world. This - you can probably imagine - is hectic. As a Mancunian I thought I was used to living in a big city, but not even my time in London can compare to this. My toleration for the sheer populace of this town 24/7 can be limited, saved only by how fascinating I find the whole place. The only time I haven't seen it packed by hundreds of pedestrians was during the post New Years celebrations, wherein the Japanese tradition is to stay in the home for three days. If you want a good look, the view from the panoramic windows of the second floor Starbucks is phenomenal - justifying this being one of the most popular Starbucks cafes owned globally by the chain. Personally, it is far too busy for me and, frankly, it's borderline impossible to get a seat overlooking the crossing anyway. My personal recommendation is the cafe in the opposite building, Hoshino Coffee. The coffee I've tried there is average but they serve it in vintage copper mugs, and their Japanese souffle pancakes are beautiful. The view is exactly the same.

Working in a university, I hear a lot about this area; Shibuya holds fame for more than just its zebra stripes and fluffy pancakes, being the centre of all the best nightlife in Tokyo. The City of Lights is even more lit in the night than the day (see what I did there?) with its extent of shows and club scenery. The parties in the city attract thousands and can probably only rival those I've seen in Ibiza, with world famous light shows, huge three dimensional holograms of anime characters and dance floors the size of music arenas. Sadly, being 19 I have so far found no access to any of this; I can only take solace in knowing that none of them are, or ever will be, Manchester's 42s. The students in particular gravitate towards Shibuya in the evening, dance until the clubs close, and take refuge in internet cafes or the city's 24 hour Denny's until the morning trains run again.

On the weekend preceding Hallowe'en, we went to Shibuya - camera in hand - to admire dressing up costumes the way only the Japanese can do them. Even in the early evening, the streets were far too packed for someone of my miniature proportions to move, let alone hold a camera without being knocked over. If you're interested, the result of my attempt to walk down a street was this footage.

There's far too much to Shibuya for me to cover, but the one last feature I want to cover is a small, personal favourite. One of the main ways into the train station is the Hachikō Entrance, named for its plaque and the statue of the eponymous dog, Hachikō. He was an Akita from Ōdate, remembered in stone (as well as in many other forms of Japanese literature and media) for his unmatched loyalty to his owner, which lasted for nine years after his owner's death. The statue is a popular meet-up point in the city, and on special holidays the effigy - like the statues of KFC's Colonel Sanders - is given a small costume to mark the occasion. Twice, I have also seen a small cat resting between the two front paws of Hachikō. He's a relatively frequent visitor. The people of the city claim some significance to the cat's chosen resting space; I just think it's pretty cute.

As it's the stop at the end of my train line, I have been here more than any of the other large areas of Tokyo. What's more, every time I feel like I've finally mastered this part of the city, I get completely lost again and uncover more. Then again, that's exactly the way every aspect of my project in Japan has been so far, and exactly the way I expect every aspect of my journey here to continue.