Shibuya

District Tokyo, Japan

Shibuya (渋谷区 Shibuya-ku) is one of Tokyo's 23 special wards. In 2008 the estimated population was 208 371 people for a density of 12 960 inhabitants per km². The total area of the neighborhood amounts to 15.11 km². Shibuya is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic areas of the city, and develops around the Shibuya station area, one of the busiest in the Japanese capital. The district is illuminated by giant screens, present on all the buildings in the area, and there are a great variety of shops (especially clothing and music) and restaurants and love hotels. Shibuya's young people express themselves through the art of cosplay and ganguro and kogal fashions, thus making the neighborhood even more colorful and particularly characteristic. It is also one of the neighborhoods where the Yakuza is most present. In the district there is the Yoyogi-kōen park and a monument dedicated to the dog Hachikō has also been erected, who became famous for his enormous loyalty towards his master, professor Hidesaburō Ueno. The statue however is not the original, lost during the Second World War, but a copy reproduced by the original artist's son.