The Evolving City
If you ever flew into Tokyo while the sun is still shining, you would have noticed the density of Tokyo’s buildings and infrastructures from a bird’s eye view. It is almost impossible to find a wide big patch of space or greenery in the middle of Tokyo and it almost feels suffocating to look at how cramped spaces are between each building. I often feel awed that I live in one of those cramped spaces down there….Despite how cramped spaces are in Tokyo, this city never stops. This city somehow has overflowing plans of development of new skyscrapers and modern looking buildings, packing them into any and every space that you can find.
With the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020 just a year away, the Japanese government has been speeding up works to prepare the city to welcome millions of visitors from all around the world. All these development works have been pretty much spread out around Tokyo city but one of the main areas of development has been focused on Shibuya – the ‘New York Times Square’ of Tokyo. Shibuya is not foreign to many ; to the world. With the Shibuya scramble crossing being the top on most visitors’ “to-do list” while visiting Tokyo, this area is one not to be missed and is sure to show up on your friend’s instagram if they visited Tokyo.
In the midst of many shopping malls available in Shibuya, today I will be introducing one of the recent skyscrapers that has been gaining much attention. This is none other than ‘Shibuya Stream’.
Shibuya Stream, as the name suggests is located right next to the less well known Shibuya River (tbh, I didn’t know that there is a river in Shibuya, lol) and is connected directly to the Shibuya Station. With restaurants and cafes taking up space on its first few floors, you can see young crowds gathering in this area and also the nearby office workers enjoying a cup of coffee or grabbing a quick lunch here.
The river itself is an attraction as many people take a stroll along the river and during the winter months, some fairy lights are hung up, making the atmosphere suitable for couples and families to create some special romantic memories. Although some may argue that this is just literally a huge drain that has been cleaned up, it is still nice to see their efforts to introduce some nature into the city!
Looking at the array of international restaurants that are available, Shibuya Stream is really trying its best to be an international hub, catering to the local Japanese crowd as well as the international crowd.
Having lived in Tokyo for 6 years now, these changes in Tokyo are very, very exciting! Anytime we leave Tokyo for just a very short time, we feel like Tokyo’s changed every single time. With the Olympics coming up, we expect to see even more drastic changes and more things being added to the city!
Stay tuned to our blog to see what are some exciting trends and medias available! 🙂