See Also:
Shibuya Hotels
Shibuya Pictures
Shibuya Shopping
Shibuya is a shopping and eating district popular with a lot of young Tokyoites. It's within walking distance from two other large shopping districts - Omotesando and Harajuku - as well as being quite close to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Jingu shrine.
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Shibuya deserves a prize as the district with more two-storey video screens than any other area in the world.
A giant TV screen above "Star Bucks" opposite Shibya Station.
Most of the action in Shibuya is in the hectic blocks to the northwest of the JR station. The best place to get oriented is the Hachiko exit, which opens onto the six-way "scramble crossing" under the giant television screen. From left to right at the edges of the square are...
The area to the south of the station is bounded by a highway, so there's not much more than bus terminals (on both sides) and the Tokyu Plaza department store.
The two major roads heading east from the station continue to Aoyama and Roppongi.
The crowded sidewalks of fashionable Shibuya
By train
Shibuya's station is a notoriously convoluted web of passageways. Follow the signage and you should find your way out (or in).
JR Yamanote, Saikyo Line
Tokyu Toyoko, Den-en-toshi Line
Keio Inokashira Line
Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G01), Hanzomon Line (Z01)
Hachiko is a famous statue of a dog who possessed legendary loyalty to his owner. It is also the name of one of the many exits from Shibuya Station and the prime meeting place before a night out. Just hanging out near Hachiko for a while will give you some great people-watching opportunities.
Hachiko belonged to Professor Ueno Saburo’s, who loved Hachi a lot. Hachi always went to see the master off and wait for his return at the Shibuya station everyday even in terrible weather. After the Professor's death, Hachi continued to wait at the station for his master's return.
Statue of Hachiko - the faithful dog. Picture by Fg2
Center Gai, the narrow street leading away from the station to the left of the giant video screen, is famous as the birthplace of many of Japan's youth fashion trends. Center Gai is jam-packed with clothing stores, music stores, and video game arcades.
The Bunkamura complex (Bunkamura-dori) has an excellent art museum, in addition to theatres for film and stage plays. On the basement floor there's art and design bookstore as well as a branch of Paris' famous Les Deux Magots café.
The crowds of Shibuya attracts companies like Sony Ericson
to promote their latest and most fashionable products.
Museums
Tobacco and Salt Museum, Jinnan 1-1 6-8 (on Koen-dori). This peculiar institution owes its existence to Japan's peculiar government monopoly on these two substances. Temporarily closed from September 2004. http://www.jti.co.jp/Culture/museum/Welcome.html
There are movie theatres and electronics stores nearby.
Shibuya is a major center for nightclubs, music, and dancing.
Magically shielded from decades of commercial development, Nonbei-yokochō (のんべい横丁) is a narrow alley running alongside the east side of the Yamanote tracks just north of the station. It's packed with traditional yakitori taverns as well as some modern, extremely tiny bars. The district was formed in 1955, and a few of the shops have been operating since then.
The Tokyo Disney Resort (東京ディズニーリゾート) in Chiba, Japan is a vacation and recreation resort opened in 1983. Comprising of Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド) and Tokyo Disneysea (東京ディズニーシー) theme parks, five hotels and the Ikspiari (イクスピアリ) shopping complex, it is the most annually-visited theme park complex in the world.
1 Day Pass: You can enter Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disneysea all day long with this ticket, but not both. ¥5500/4800/3700 for ages 18+/12-17/4-11.
After 6 Pass: You can use this ticket from 6:00 PM on weekdays. It is sold from 5:00 PM for ¥2900 (all ages).
Before you enter this park, your bag will be inspected by a clerk, but you don't need to show your ID card.
Tokyo Disneyland Cinderella castle
By train
From Tokyo Station, take the JR Keiyo Line to Maihama (舞浜), which is adjacent to the park. The rides takes about 15 minutes (¥210) on an express train.
By car
From Tokyo and the Yokohama region, follow the coast of a bay to Chiba, exit at the Urayasu ramp and then go out at Route 357, go straight on the road about 1km, make a U-turn at Mihama Rittai Road (美浜立体道路). Then, you just follow the signs.
The Tokyo Disneyland parking lot is huge and can take about 8000 cars. In the parking lot, there are four signs: (M) Mickey, (D) Donald, (G) Goofy, (P) Pinocchio. So, if you remember the space where you parked your car, you can find it soon when you go back. The parking fee is ¥2000. If you want to know more information about the car park and the circumstances of surrounding streets, you can contact the Tokyo Disney Resort information line at 045-683-3011.
By bus
Hotels around Disney have free transportation service to Disney Resort.
Long distance bus services come here from all over Japan.
The four-station Disney Resort Line monorail connects Maihama Station to Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disneysea and Tokyo Bay NK Hall plus the resort hotels. The fare is ¥200/100 for adults/children and the Passnet stored value card can be used. Note that, if going to Disneyland, it's probably easier and faster to just walk from the station.
See
Of course, you can see the same Disney characters, a castle, and mountains, and magic performances as at other Disney Parks. The seaside does make this park a bit different from the others. And, the people-watching is great.
Do
The two theme parks, Disneyland and Disneysea, compliment each other. Disneyland is the most visited theme park in the world, with Disneysea following at a close second. The two major symbols, Cinderella Castle at Disneyland and Mount Prometheus at Disneysea are exactly the same height, and from Ikspiari you can see them both.
Drink
Most drinks are soft drinks. However, you can also get alcoholic beverages in some places inside the park.