Shibuya Center-gai — Main Arch

This camera stands at the main arch of Shibuya Center-gai, the entrance you reach immediately after crossing the Scramble Crossing from the Hachiko exit. It is the point where the crossing's crowd funnels from an open square into a narrow street.

Center-gai is a few hundred metres of tightly packed shops, restaurants and karaoke, and it has long been the part of Shibuya most associated with young Tokyo. The street was officially renamed Basketball Street in 2011, though almost nobody uses that name in conversation.

The arch itself is a useful reference point. Crowd density here is a good indicator of how busy the whole area is, and the contrast between mid-afternoon and a Friday night is stark. It is also where television crews set up when Shibuya makes the news.