In this walk, we’re exploring how Tokyo has allowed authorities, developers, and people around the world to reimagine what a city might be, in the last fifty years. In this episode, we discover how Shibuya has provided space for Tokyo’s various tribes to live out their dreams, around stations, shrines, and parks. 

We start at the main entrance to the 100-year-old Meiji Shrine. Next door is Yoyogi Park, tea and mulberry fields turned into an army training ground, then housing for the US military after the war and the athletes’ village for the 1964 Olympics. Over the road, two of the original, iconic stadia still stand, next to the headquarters of NHK, the national broadcaster. Heading back over the tracks, we wend our way down through Harajuku to Takeshita Dōri, still a magnet for young Japanese in search of fast fashion, then back up to Omotesando, where slightly older tribes have long congregated. We wend our way down what was once a river through fields and learn how earlier versions of urban culture, too, have been erased. We cross over the main road into Shibuya proper, sprawling over the hills leading down to the station where the smaller boutiques give way to the huge projects of the two main corporate players. Seibu and Tokyu, both began as private rail companies a century ago, started to develop the neighbourhood as fashion central in the 1970s, and continue to build ever higher today, as the station itself is slowly transformed. 

You can follow the walk on this map: bit.ly/3NPBXTI

And you can find the full transcript here: bit.ly/3Pu3F9M

See a sneak peek on TikTok: tiktok.com/@walkhistoricity and Instagram: instagram.com/WALKHISTORICITY

WRITER AND PRESENTER: Angus Lockyer

PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic

This series was supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. Find out more at: gbsf.org.uk

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