Shibuya Crossing

Landmark

Landmark · Tokyo, Japan 35.6595°N 139.7005°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Shibuya Crossing

Time needed

About an hourLonger with Shibuya Sky

Best time

EveningOr in rain, for umbrellas

Cost

FreeShibuya Sky is ticketed

Effort

Flat street walkShort crossing on foot

Season

Year-roundStatue fenced at Halloween

Access

Shibuya StationRight outside the station

Crowd size

How many people cross Shibuya Crossing?

More than 1,000 pedestrians cross on an ordinary change of the lights, and over 2,500 every two minutes at peak hours. The crowd comes in waves, not as a steady stream.

Free viewpoint

What is the best free place to view Shibuya Crossing?

The Sky Lobby in Shibuya Hikarie, a free observation space with no reservation needed. A café on the second floor of the QFRONT building also looks straight down on the junction.

Entry

Is Shibuya Crossing free?

Yes, entirely. It is a public street junction outside Shibuya Station, open to anyone on foot, with no ticket, booking or opening hours to plan around.

Hachikō Exit

Which exit is Hachikō at Shibuya Station?

The Hachikō Exit. It moved on 26 January 2025, about 60 metres toward the Miyamasuzaka and Hikarie side of the station, so older maps show it in the wrong place. Inside the station, the colour-coded overhead signs point the way.

Statue closures

Is the Hachikō statue closed at Halloween?

Yes, for a few days. In 2026 the city fenced off the area around the statue from 6am on 30 October until 1 November. Over New Year's Eve 2025 it was closed off from 6am on 31 December to 1am on 1 January.

Cross with the crowd on one green signal, then go up a few floors and watch the next wave fill the junction below you.

What makes it special

When the walk signal comes on, pedestrians step off from five corners at once and meet in the middle of the junction. Coming from every side, they slip past one another without colliding, on what is considered the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.

From an upper floor, the whole junction fills and empties in turn. In light rain the umbrellas come out and give the crossing a ghostly look.

The statue on the plaza beside the station is of Hachikō, a dog who waited there every day for his owner, not knowing he had died. The city holds a memorial service at the statue each 8 April, a month after the anniversary of the dog's death, in cherry blossom season.

Visiting

One crossing on foot, with the crowd, starts the visit.

Then go up to the second floor of the QFRONT building, where a café's windows face the crossing.

Back at the station, climb to the second-floor corridor instead of crossing at ground level, and follow it into Shibuya Hikarie. Ride the escalators, as the lifts are always busy, to the Sky Lobby on the 11th floor, which looks down on the junction.

For a rooftop view, end at Shibuya Sky, open 10:00 to 22:30 with last admission at 21:20. Book adult tickets online ahead: once they sell out online, the counter has none either.

Tips

Walk at the crowd's pace and do not stop mid-crossing for photos, or you will be running for the far side when the signal changes.

Window seats in the QFRONT café are hard to get, so take a standing look if none is free.

Children's tickets for Shibuya Sky are sold only at the counter on the day, and under-fives go in free.

Know before you goDrinking in the street, in parks and in other public places around Shibuya Station is banned every night from 6pm to 5am, all year, as of November 2026. Officers can stop you and make you throw the drink away.Shibuya Sky may close in bad weather.