Quiz: Japan’s Hidden Side – Vol.2: The Real Shibuya Behind the Crossing

1. About 3,000

Explanation:
If you picked 2 or 3 because “the biggest number has to be right,” sorry to disappoint you.
The real number is around 3,000 — still impressive, but not apocalyptic.
It actually doubles the figure for London’s Oxford Circus Crossing, often ranked the world’s second busiest.

Stand there when the light turns green and watch as thousands surge toward the center from every direction.
You might think, “So this is what a medieval battlefield felt like.”

To live in Tokyo, you need the skill to cross this human torrent without bumping into anyone.
Every local is, in a sense, a trained crossing master.

(Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing what twelve thousand at once would look like.)

2. A river

Explanation:
An actual river flows beneath Tokyo’s busiest intersection — the Shibuya River.
Today it’s mostly sealed inside concrete channels that run from right under the crossing toward Ebisu.

Long ago, this was an open stream — a shallow valley that gave the area its name, Shibuya, meaning “the bitter valley.”
Now, millions of people walk above it every day, unaware of the quiet water moving just beneath their feet.

Even many locals have no idea there’s a ghost river flowing under the heart of the city.
A little eerie, isn’t it?

3. Richard Gere

Explanation:
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale was produced in the U.S. in 2009.
Richard Gere starred as a college professor who owns Hachikō.
While the film performed fairly well in Japan, it saw almost no theatrical release in the U.S. and flopped at the box office.

For Gere, it became a small “black mark” in his home country,
but he has often spoken about his deep interest in Japanese Buddhism — especially Zen — and his affection for Japan itself.

By the way, the real Hachikō isn’t only remembered by the statue outside Shibuya Station.
His taxidermied body is preserved and on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno — something even many Japanese don’t know.
If you’re curious, you can visit him there:
National Museum of Nature and Science

2. Organized groups with shared interests and strict internal rules

Explanation:
During the 2000s, many gyaru circles — or “gyaru-sa” — emerged in Shibuya.
These were groups of like-minded young people who gathered under club-style names, sometimes with surprising discipline and hierarchy.
Some had codes of conduct, membership ranks, and even uniforms.

It was a paradoxical evolution: young people rebelling against a restrictive society ended up creating tightly regulated communities of their own.
In a way, the gyaru-sa movement showed how freedom often comes with its own kind of structure — especially in Shibuya.

1. Tokyo’s 1990s lounge-pop music scene

Explanation:
In the 1990s, stylish record shops around Shibuya inspired a new kind of pop music that mixed French, jazz, and bossa-nova influences.
Overseas, it became known as “Shibuya-kei,” defining the city’s creative reputation long before its famous crossing went viral.

• No. 2: Maid cafés actually began in Akihabara, the center of otaku culture.
• No. 3: Kawaii fashion mainly originated in Harajuku, known for its colorful street styles.