Japan Vlog: Shibuya Crossing + Full Tokyo Neighborhood Tour
[Music] this place is insane not just the famous crossing the entire neighborhood today we’re going beyond the scramble into the alleys rooftops capsule shops and crepe line this is Shabuya Tokyo’s wildest district let’s get into it all right so today we are exploring Shabuya so first we’re going to go do a little zigzag with the crossing and uh see what that’s all about we’re going to see a bunch of people for making a lot of great photos memories some people professional some people amateur and everything in between so just got out of the subway great and here we are you can see just to get our bearings straight so all these are kind of iconic spots here we have the famous 109 Shabuya we have the Starbucks behind me and then we have basically whichever way you look they’re all iconic so all right i’m going to go this way then zigzag back and uh yeah it’s going to be uh it’s actually not that crowded today cuz it’s a weekday but I think you’ll still see it’s pretty crowded then the famous uh dog statue is over there the world famous Shabuya Crossing this place is organized chaos in its final form hundreds sometimes thousands of people pour into the intersection from every direction all at once it’s like a flash mob with no rehearsal no leader and no collisions what makes it really wild though is that it’s always like this morning afternoon Tuesday typhoon it doesn’t matter shabuya Crossing doesn’t sleep there’s this constant hum of energy where the crosswalk beeps foot traffic ads screaming from buildings 10 stories high and somehow it all blends into a strange beautiful rhythm right outside Shabuya Station is one of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks the Hakuchu statue honoring the loyal dog who waited for his owner every day for nearly 10 years after he passed away it’s not just a statue it’s a symbol of loyalty love and one that’s really emotional like one of the most emotional stories in all of Japan but here’s the rookie move people do the crossing snap a photo and leave don’t because Shabuya isn’t just an intersection in a crossing it’s an entire experience one that tourists only see 5% of all right we just crossed trying with a selfie stick this time all right so now we’re crossing the opposite way here we go talking about all right all right so we just did the crossing twice so next up is the main alleyway in Shabuya which is just to get my bearings straight so just to get my bear your bearings straight so across from the dog statue which we just were uh is this is the main alley of restaurants and bars and things like that see the Shabuya Scramble Square is over there we have all these restaurants right here of course Starbucks it’s pretty popular spot to see from above so uh man we have uh a lot more of Shabuya to see other than the crossing but you can’t just spend you got to at least budge at least 15 20 minutes towards a scramble just going back and forth and experiencing it and trying to get as many photos as you can and want uh but for me it was around uh about four times back and forth so uh definitely a good 20 minutes maybe 15 minutes going back and forth and just people watching it’s it’s very little locals so it seems like it’s like a 100% tourists all doing the same thing so Oh man all right so now next we get to actually see what else is in Shabuya which is a lot of shops and restaurants so let’s see uh what it’s like now let’s talk souvenirs right outside the crossings is the first gift shop yeah it looks like a tourist trap but don’t be too quick to judge because sometimes you just want a quick cheesy Shabuya magnet or Pikachu dressed as a sumo wrestler not everything needs to be handcarved by monks you know these places are fast fun and honestly kind of perfect when you need just a last minute gift plus air conditioning always feels good enough said [Music] [Music] look at this huge piercing store every type of ring you can imagine all right across the street we have an electronic store so they’re selling cameras uh phones uh anything you want let’s see yeah this is a Oh no this is a karaoke all right karaoke man look at this a whole store just on the capsules doors yeah no food or drinks no restrooms let’s see now if you’re anything like me your eyes are going to land on these vending machines cuz they are everywhere they’re called toy capsule machines like Japan’s capsule toy obsession is real these capsule machines are like the Tokyo version of slot machines but instead of cash you’re almost losing self-control and winning tiny plastic dinosaurs holding a hamburger or just the wildest most random gifts it’s not all anime toys it’s anything under the sun there are entire stores I mean entire buildings with multiple floors filled wallto-wall with these toy capsules nothing else you can find a rare toy capsule collection weird niche stuff or like sea creatures or sushi or cats or really anything under the sun i mean people really get into this like I watched one guy drop maybe 4,000 yen trying to get a full set of like these animals that were different types of frogs in business suits but it’s uh and they’ll just sit there and put coins in until they get the whole collection so uh they take it very seriously and they are addicting i definitely had over half a dozen of these toy capsules to bring home to friends and family all right so just checked out that capsule toy store and we’re just heading down this main alleyway we have so much on this we have multiple layers here or lots of floors restaurants it’s like a capsule hotel even iPhones games we have clothing here to my right man so much let’s keep walking here ipad oh get your iPad fixed here another restaurant restaurant ikea here let’s go to IKEA this cool bar abc Mart this looks like more designer clothes man look at all these shoes two restaurants there all right we have these side alleys here well one of the count as side alleys we got money exchange guests ice cream ABC yeah man that Adidas stores there too and look at all these restaurants smashburger we got one two two or three more restaurants there the cafe and what’s this some pink place j Boy Night Market all right these restaurants very lots of traditional Japanese places at this place called Maps not sure what that is all right next we have uh this is called I don’t know what this is we got restaurants massage family mart got Burger King chain oh man we got three or four more restaurants up there oh you always got to look up here we got Italian one two two more restaurants up above wow all right we got another side street here another restaurant at night this place is totally different all right what else we got so many average just like overwhelming for how much stuff is here all right man here we are believe it or not this is like the back alley so we have the Shabuya crossing is behind me you’ll see lots of shops and restaurants going up and down this way but a lot of the side streets there’s the main street there with Shabuya there’s a giant shopping mall one too it’s already telling how many floors that is but that’s a big shopping mall uh we have a lot of these game and shoes uh we of course have a Mickey De’s here all right yeah so we’re just going to keep going straight here and then zigzagging our way back but we’ll see we have man look at this local restaurant here oh man look Kobe beef skewers oo wow very famous meat liked all over the world for 3,800 all right let’s see steak over rice 3,900 all right let’s uh Oh man muslim friendly standard halah yeah so for 3,800 so 3,800 it’s about like $20 um everything on the main drag especially in Shabuya is going to be super overpriced so I’m not going to be eating uh I don’t mind spending $ 20 $30 that’s actually pretty cheap for steak uh but definitely right on the main street in Shabuya it’s going to be a little overpriced so let’s keep searching and uh oh man Wagu Shaman wow up all right couldn’t tell what that guy was saying oh a Geigo another arcade so we were in Akihabro and uh they had about like 500 of those Geigo uh arcades so there’s one right here all right look at this cool bar the Whales of August bar all right the beer wine cocktails man this place looks Jack Daniels wow this is uh Man bringing back a lot of American references here all right we got a cool clothing store here all right let’s see what else and one two three four we got a spa [Applause] [Music] all right so now we have moved over one street over from the main alley so this is like you can call like the second main alley uh but you’ll see um it kind of connects off and this they go there’s a bunch of you know there’s more bars and restaurants this way um but they do start dying down so let’s see and then next you can see we have this alleyway kind of like Shinjuku where you’ll see it goes down and there’s a mixture of uh bars restaurants uh a lot of these here i’ll walk down just a little bit here let’s check the move a lot of these uh capsule stores claw machines um but yeah you see all the these restaurants these are all like four or five story buildings so all these restaurants are on each of these floors so may not seem like there’s a lot but then you look at all the restaurants on each floor like here and you’ll see actually there’s quite a lot there so that maybe like is a baseball themed cafe of course we have the chain restaurants as well shake Shack and let’s see what’s on here oh man we got see Liquor Mountain so Attic Room that’s a bar so a lot of like cool you can definitely find your hidden gems here okay shifting gears let’s talk dessert if you’ve ever walked around Hirojuku or Shabuya you’ve probably seen the famous Tokyo crepe stands usually they have a line wrapped around the block it is the most popular dessert in all of Tokyo I feel like but today I got lucky no line just me and a wall of dessert options that look like they came out of a food anime banana custard strawberry cheesecake ice blueberry let’s see strawberry chocolate all right I think I’m going to go with strawberry pie can I have a number number number seven number seven yes yeah mhm card thank you we got strawberries going on all right and they wrap it all up and they put it in this cool holder yes thank you all right here we have those famous crepes it’s like everybody takes their picture in front of here this is really good [Music] yeah the strawberries are super fresh cream was fresh lots of sugar so just what you need on a hot day all right we always go Animate floor three let’s check it out so we’ve been to animate stores all over the world and all over uh Tokyo and and actually So we’ve been to animate stores all over the world and all over Japan so I’ve been all over So I’ve been to anime stores all over the world including all over Japan i’ve been to one in Akihabro i’ve been to one in Hiroshima so let’s see what this one is like i’m guessing it’s going to be identical but hey look at that cool store for sound speakers man a lot of cool little hidden gems here all right so this is the manga section you can see cuz it’s so manga is printed books anime is animation so What are you doing yes yes [Music] what am I doing give me [Applause] [Music] [Music] New York [Music] let’s do this asian All right i think that was the first anime store that I wasn’t uh asked to stop filming so that worked out i actually didn’t even see any signs so uh yeah but that one was probably one of the smallest I’ve ever seen which I guess makes sense there’s so much other stuff all around so uh but yeah that was uh that was really small um but they had a lot there they had anime and manga so here’s where we’re coming down and there’s the crate place we just ate at it’s like a sound speaker store there so all right so now we are on the second of the main alleyways that leads back to the crossing we’ve turned away so we are now walking back towards Shabuya Crossing and you’ll see a little hard navigating with the selfie stick but um so we came from that way originally and and so in front of us you’re going to see this is the front of the Geigo multi-story arcade wow look like we got a whole another whole another building with like 10 stories of restaurants and cafes so yeah you definitely have to look up up and up for all your to see all the restaurants man here’s a big arcade and see we have so many shops when you look up wow loudspeakers playing advertisements lot of these alleys like that one all right we have to explore this alleyway we can’t not listen to our own rules all right so we’re going to go up and down this alley let’s see so yeah just when you get off the main drag you’re going to see still some more restaurants but also a lot of cool little shops we have gifts looks like hats this we have a hair salon really cool looking cafes this cool little rice store amosako rice and then look we have this cool Italian place upstairs man look at this restaurant probably doesn’t open till the evening time but uh what whatever country that is perfume Zone man look at this cool Bobique or tea coffee shop sunglasses man pet Paradise man this back alley just keeps [Music] going another super cute cafe oh organic we have a whole vape store have a manga figure store up there let’s see you have a studio here to take photos oh no it’s the wrong one let’s see try to see if I can get to this oh man look at this cool dessert place macaroons all right all right we got English mango lounge cosplay all right let’s try always go upstairs always go down side alleys always go upstairs all right oh very cool got some cosplay outfits here i feel like you could ride around in a go-kart with these manga books oh there’s a balcony here not a lot not a lot not a quantity but Dragon Ball Z all right it’s so quiet in here toilet in there i kind of have to go but no wait all right dragon Ball Z oh man there’s so much let’s keep going watch your head dude that’s long beautiful shop thank you yes so cozy yes thank you [Music] you all right man what a cool little alleyway definitely change of scenery from the typical craziness of Shabuya even though we’re only like two blocks look we have a lot of sports brand stores like Columbia we have some more kind of just big ticket stores here in this big mall let me do a GPS check here all right so just came down that way let’s Let’s go down this way all right so I’m going to take the long way so our end goal is Shabuya Sky but I got plenty of time look at this mall so this mall is huge this is the theaters you saw on the crossing just a whole nine floors of just a regular shopping mall places from you know brands you heard of super unique local brands so literally everything all right we are making a big long loop all around Shabuya so now this is about two blocks from the famous crossing we have just a lot of name brand stores hotels up above restaurants personal studio and golf lounge so sushi [Music] bar it’s an Irish pub these cool perfume stores we got a fancy cafe here yeah so just a lot of lot of high-end stores here in Shabuya very high price for tourists look at this flower shop here oh man smells kind of weird here but let’s keep going all right all right now we’re going to go down so this is the main entrance to Parkco Mall all right you can see a lot of cool stores across the way we have Grandma’s Georgees grandma Grandma’s Georgees it’s like a burger place got Ray-B band a whole store on Ray-B band see I’m trying to look up while walking which isn’t very good we have glasses pharmacy chicken gym not sure if that’s like a restaurant or a gym an Apple store oh man so a lot of name brands you’ve heard of have like flagship stores here in super popular places so across the street there see you have Apple one two it’s a threetory Apple store and then right next door we have anchor so let’s wait for this bus to move here so anyone use any of those charging equipments and any of those power banks ankor has a twotory store right there and just a lot of office buildings here look at all these name brand stores just want to say they have an office in Shabuya like Ankor for example uh but here a bunch of other brands looks super uh niche and expensive and we got the Shabuya Crossing in front of us and then this cool cafe to the right but and here’s the the phone company Rack Coupon man but you can tell there’s not a shortage of stores and restaurants and uh definitely not any local you know if you’re looking for like local uh small like vintage shops that’s not going to be Shabuya oh we have a Disney store oh man love the Disney Store all right most of the Disney stores actually have gone out of [Music] business hey hey hey [Music] [Music] hey [Music] Yeah we got Mickey now thank you [Music] [Music] you see how [Music] jelly he might [Music] just let me get the sticky on there [Music] you know what that toy store [Music] [Music] I heard it that’s what I’m assuming [Music] [Music] we feel huh [Music] hey hey hey [Music] hey hey hey [Music] hey hey hey [Music] all right our next destination is Mita Shiba Park so we just left the Shabuya sky and uh so this Shabuya scramble is uh coming up to our left but we’re going to kind of bypass it and uh and keep trying to explore this really really really cool once in a-lifetime opportunity to check out one of the most busiest and craziest neighborhoods in all of Tokyo [Music] [Music] heat hey [Music] Heat heat heat n [Music] [Music] hey hey hey [Music] all right Parkco Mall it’s right to our left there and so we’re walking about two blocks from the Shabuya Scramble and as you can see there’s just dozens of massage parlors shoe places clothing restaurants it’s just so much in Shabuya more than just the clothes more than just a crossing man look this tour bus of people just got dropped off so man there’s just so many [Music] people hey [Music] hey hey [Music] [Music] and now we have arrived at Mitashika Park so we’re here they’re on the ground level we have to go up one two three floors and let’s check this out so as you can see GPS took me literally right to the staircase there’s easy there’s signs saying park straight so let’s check it out [Music] all right so we got a bunch of shops it’s basically a shopping mall here this is Miaita Park right in the middle of Shabuya but it feels like a totally different vibe so it’s built on top of a shopping complex which already makes it one of Tokyo’s most unique public spaces it’s not just a park it’s part rooftop hangout part modern mall and part city escape they have pokey and sushi oh man and then of course you have the park let’s check it out the actual park is on the rooftop you’ve got a green lawn walking paths and even a skate park up here it’s a super cool contrast modern concrete jungle below and peaceful urban oasis above you’re literally chilling on a rooftop while traffic rushes below you all right here we are to the park let’s continue exploring all right little a little hot let’s see we have lots of some cool outdoor activities we have restrooms and toilets all right all right we have a rock climbing wall I see out the out there very cool all right let’s see what else we have here and this place is big now it looks like this multi-use facility here is closed unfortunately all right let’s check out this rock climbing wall yeah we got a rock climbing wall here man this park is long signs for no skateboarding oh cuz they have a skateboarding park that’s cool [Music] all right we got a skateboarding park here all right looks like there’s some escalators to the end all right so that is the end now let’s turn around and check out the other end all right time to leave Miaita Park and head to my next stop that’s if I can actually figure out how to get out of here [Music] you guys are going to Oh sorry and my own um can I get the plate for here i guess the rice and then got to get the two of the just chicken yep would you also like a drink uh yes do you just a water water for We do have a water at the fountain drink and also a pet bottle look at the bottle okay well when you need fast food in Japan you get Panda Express so let’s get some fuel f some fast fuel and then get some more exploring [Music] [Music] all right so we have South which is it’s just a regular shopping mall here so not a lot of classic vintage shops not a lot of authentic places just a lot of uh you know just a shopping mall so a lot of stores you would recognize a lot of Japanese stores back on track heading to the nearest station now it’s crazy you go from rooftop park to full city chaos in like 30 seconds next stop’s coming up and trust me it’s a vibe shift so let’s keep it moving [Music]
Just steps from Shibuya Scramble Crossing, this Tokyo adventure dives into capsule toy madness, over-the-top desserts, and a hidden rooftop park escape above the chaos. Subscribe for a free travel tips newsletter and Google Maps links to my destinations! https://www.alextravelsfar.com/home/#jump
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⏰ TIME CODES:
00:00 – Intro
0:18 – Exploring Shibuya
1:24 – Shibuya Crossing
2:05 – The Hachikō Statue
5:04 – The Souvenirs
7:56 – Toy Store
14:39 – Shifting Gears
18:16 – Animate Floor
26:32 – Anime Shop
33:32 – Disney Store
43:32 – Miyashita Park
47:00 – Food & Chill
50:18 – Outro
📍 ABOUT THIS VIDEO:
I explore way more than just the famous Shibuya Crossing. From toy capsule stores and dessert stands to rooftop parks and fashion alleys, this is Shibuya beyond the intersection. I check out hidden shops, wild vending machines, and even a secret rooftop park most people walk right past.
🎥 This is part of my Tokyo travel series
#JapanVlog #TokyoTravel #ShibuyaCrossing #VisitTokyo #TokyoVlog #ShibuyaJapan #HiddenTokyo #TokyoStreetLife #JapanTravelGuide #ExploreTokyo #CapsuleToys #MiyashitaPark #TokyoFood #TravelFar
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