Shibuya District, Tokyo

Shibuya, the shopping megalopolis of Tokyo prefecture – the one place on earth you don’t go to if you’re seeking solitude.

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First impressions

There are certain areas of a country where cultural nuances are most pronounced. Shibuya, with its bustling street walks, busy intersections and pedestrian predominance never gave way into disorder, impatience or frustration.

Even when it started raining, somehow this throbbing mass of humanity all popped open umbrellas in such a way as to accommodate each other and not poke the eyes out of tall Americans like myself.

The streets and sidewalks were clean – clean of debris, of dirt, of trash, of vagrants. Despite the fact that there were a few fast food imports (I’m looking at you KFC and Burger King), nary a stray straw or burger wrapper was to be seen. This despite the fact that there were NO TRASH CANS outside. People generally don’t eat on the go, and they take their trash with them if they do. Early in the day I left my umbrella in a public spot. Hours later I came back to find it and it was right where I left it.

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Meguro Station

Our little neighborhood rail station proved a worthy adversary in our effort to figure out which line to take. I would often announce that ‘this is the right way’ and soon find out it wasn’t. We finally asked and with the help of google translate, we found and boarded our car.

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Mike of Shibuya via Albuquerque

Stasia’s friend Mike (from her high school days in Albuquerque) has been living in Tokyo for the past 5 years. He was available on the day of our outing, so Stasia made a plan to meet him outside the Shibuya station (a complete city ecosystem in and of itself). It took a while to find the exit of that thing… but once outside, we swam through the throng to find our connection – thankfully he found us. It probably didn’t hurt that Zephyr and I are at least a foot and a half taller than most of the locals.

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Host Extraordinaire

Mike took us on the most lovely stroll through the heart of Shibuya, where he expertly discovered what each of us were interested in and then catered our itinerary to accommodate. Zephyr got his anime shop, Stasia got a rare jazz vinyl pressed in Japan and I wandered through probably the best guitar store I’ve ever seen.

We topped it off with the most superb ramen – with a stock so delectable we had to close our eyes when sipping it. That, along with some sea urchin gyoza and beer filled our happy bellies while we traded stories with Mike. He was the most kind and considerate host – it was the kind of personal connection that makes travel so rich.

Zephyr asked if he knew of a store called ‘BapeStore’, and 2 minutes later we were there.

On the way back to the station we perused the basement level of a department store (Depachika) – which in Tokyo usually happens to be a foodie paradise. Dozens of little counters selling colorful comestibles for all tastes and price ranges.

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Alas, we were done and ready to return to our little enclave. The patron saint of Shibuya that he was, Mike delivered us to our train dutifully – and after leaving, looked back to make sure we were actually continuing onward (which we weren’t as Z had lost his train ticket – Mike came back and helped us purchase the correct replacement). We definitely got the white glove treatment! Hopefully we’ll get another chance to see him before going home.

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Parting shot: These 2 posters caught my eye. Can you think of a caption? Leave it in a comment 🙂

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