On any normal day, crossing the road is more of an ordeal than an event. But not at the busiest road crossing in the world, where 3,000 people gather to straddle the bustling Shibuya district of Tokyo, every two minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And you can watch it all in the comfort of your own home, via a YouTube link that showcases it in all its glory. I’d done just that when my friend was visiting Tokyo and went to Shibuya Scramble Crossing, which became an eye-ball bleeding assault on the senses for both of us.
She sent me a link and said she’d wave to me from 8,609 miles away in her new Pokémon hat. I saw her, took a screen grab and vowed one day to repay the favour. Fast forward a few months and I’m messaging her under a webcam with hundreds of people around me, attempting to do the same.
And it was the most fun I’ve ever had crossing the road – and I’ve done the Abbey Road crossing while nearly being taken out by an Uber Eats bike.
You enter the world-famous square with its neon lights, loud speakers, mini Mario karts, and nearby Don Quijote stores, where you get sensory overload attempting to buy the latest TikTok makeup trends.
We lined ourselves up on one side of the crossing under a Starbucks. At the other side was an army of people desperate to get across – ready to pounce like one of the battle scenes in 300.
The trick is to position yourself in the middle and at the front. Then, when the lights change, run like hell to the centre of the crossing and do your pose for Instagram before the rest of the pedestrians catch up with you.
And we did just this… seven times. There were three of us all desperate to do the same thing, all watched on by my pal in West London and countless others on a webcam.
We hatched plans for the perfect shot. In one, Helen ran to the front, being filmed by Tom, while I filmed both of them. I took a turn – star jump was my flair of choice – and then we did the same for Tom.
In fact, most people were doing something flamboyant crossing this road, although I did sort of feel for the people who genuinely just wanted to get to the other side, having to dodge star jumps, swirling teens, and idiots.
So what was on the other side? Well, we don’t really know. We never made it.
Before the lights turned back we headed back to try again. After a myriad attempts for the perfect shot – all filled with laughter – we stopped and headed to the nearby ‘British Pub’ (we enjoy a cliché) via a hunt for a banana vending machine in a car park. Obviously.
Tokyo is a functional, sometimes mundane city, but there are places like Shibuya where you can let yourself go as the world watches.
And if you can make a small part of West London smile as you fail to cross a road seven times, isn’t that a brilliant slice of life?
