Day 15 - Shibuya (Tokyo)

14th February, 2003 - Starting out from Shibuya we went in search of the greatest celebrity of this part of the city.... but it wouldn't be easy, as just about any time of the day (or night) Shibuya is full of people. Sometimes looking very busy - other times looking like they really don't have much to do at all.

So who is this great celebrity? His name is Hachiko - and he's an Akita dog. Actually - what we're really looking for is his statue. Hachiko has gained somewhat of a legend - he came to Tokyo in 1924 and always travelled to the Shibuya train station with his master... where he'd wait for his return of an evening. When one day the owner (a professor at the University of Tokyo) died unexpectedly, Hachiko still waited loyally (in the evening) for his master to return. Indeed he would escape from his new home, to wait for him - though he would never see his master again. For nine years this happened - Hachiko always returning to the station of an evening. Waiting. The statue was erected in 1934 (with Hachiko in attendance), one year before Hachiko finally died. It is perhaps this single-minded loyalty and love that so captured the natural sentimentality of the Japanese psyche - and made Hachiko a Japanese legend.

Taking our own adventure on the Tokyo  train system is easy - though the transit map may look anything but easy. There's a lot of lines - but thankfully there still plenty of signs that are in English. Also the ticket machines are pretty straight forward. Just select if you want 1 or more tickets and the price (as shown in the map) for the destination you want to get to.

If you don't get it right, there's no problem... you can always adjust the fare on the ticket once you go to leave the station at the destination. Just don't lose your ticket! And be careful... as there's some shady looking characters around....

Now... we're off to Yokohama!

Day 14 - Shibuya (Tokyo)

13th February, 2003 - After an afternoon of the beauty and bounty of nature, T-chan and I felt the need to immerse ourselves in the beauty and bounty of the urban forest. What better place to do that than Shibuya. After Shinjuku, this is is perhaps the busies place in Tokyo... and a great night-time experience.

For a cup of coffee... actually when we took this photo (back in 2003) we thought this was the best thing since sliced bread. When we get closer to the current day, you'll be able to see how far advanced the  Japanese skill in Cappuccino decorating has come.












Of course you couldn't come here and not go to Karaoke... except in Japan Karaoke is more likely to be conducted in the privacy (and relative sound-proofness) of your own small room. Hey - it's a good thing I have a day job.

Of course there's plenty of food to be had in Shibuya.... hmmm when I see that hot inviting steam... yum-o! Oishi-so!

There are other distractions not too far away as well... and if you've a spare moment or two (or a whole night), you can stroll up the road to Dogenzaka... and explore the interesting sights of Love Hotel Hill. Of course, we were far too tired to think about climbing any hills that night..... *sigh*

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