It was another wet & cold day in Tokyo, we decided to catch the train to check out Shibuya, which is a major shopping hub.
Shibuya
Shibuya Train Station is even more hectic than Tokyo Station, we ended up getting ejected into quite a nice (read wildly expensive) department store, where we got some lunch.
The view from the restaurant over Shibuya looked like something out of a Ridley Scott sci-fi film Bladerunner. There was A LOT of building work going on, they are further expanding the train station and building a 160m high skyscraper.More sci-fi-esque buildings.
Shibuya Scramble Crossing
Just getting to the crossing was a mission, having negotiated several pedestrian bridges & building sites we made it to the crossing. Being a cold wet day the crossing wasn’t at particularly high capacity, but we got the vibe of the thing.
Shibuya Crossing wasn’t too hectic when we visited. Shibuya Stream – feels a bit unloved. I quite like the contrast between the shiny-newness & the slowly decaying buildings. A quirk of Japan is that buildings devalue virtually to nothing after 30 years. We saw this quite a bit where you go on a Mario-kart* tour of Tokyo, where you dress up as cartoon character. Looks fun but slightly terrifying. * It’s a computer game.
Cat Street
From Shibuya we headed to Cat Street a small street nearby, which is a bit like the Ponsonby Road of Shibuya. We have no idea why it’s called Cat Street, google tells us it could be stray cats, the narrow streets, or a 1980s rockabilly band?
Cat street – with satisfying two-point perspective.Cat Street – no cats were seenThis crazy thing is the flagship store for the high end watch brand Vacheron Constantin. It was designed by the Japanese architecture practice Archetype. It’s not all luxury bunkers, there were some interesting side streets. Plants – there was good coffee place nearby. ArtsyThe end – we have no idea about this crazy thing
Back to Shibuya…
From Cat Street after some retail therapy (I’m not sure why it’s called that, I never find clothes shopping especially relaxing), we headed back to Shibuya and onto our hotel.
Tokyo TaxiAnother famous not famous toilet – this one was designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, There’s still a small portion of traditional shops & restaurants by Shibuya Station. Neon art at our hotel
MM4.Travel 
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