shibuya

shibuya is a funny place.

it always strikes me that most cities have their own version of piccadilly circus.

you know, for example times square in new york and plaza del sol in madrid

well in tokyo, i reckon it's shibuya.

then again, shibuya isn't a scruffy place where students and backpackers

hang about, it's pretty much the youth fashion centre of tokyo. it is

home to a lot of high end fashion stores as well as lots of small

independent places. there are cracking record shops in shibuya, plenty of

 places to eat and it's a great place to walk around with no particular plan.

though i've been boycotting starbucks for almost 3 years now, i would say

that a good place to start a tour of shibuya is in the big starbucks on one

corner of the famous pedestrian crossing. you can't miss it as you come out 

of the subway and after paying for your coffee at ground level, you take your seat on the first floor where you can sit at a window and watch the crossing in action.

watching people cross the road sounds quite boring doesn't it ?

but trust me, watching people cross at shibuya is anything but boring.

walking around shibuya is always interesting.

for instance you will never walk far before you see a photo shoot on the streets

and if you're like me, you'll join in.

the two girls here are part of the shoot, helping out with hair and make-up

and trying to keep foreign photographers from distracting the model.

hmmm...