Will Miss #46 - hachiko (reflection)

It is only now that I realize that what I really miss is the common cultural touchstone aspect of this dog statue in Shibuya. It was such a rallying point and everyone who has spent even several months in Tokyo will know about it and recognize it when it is shown in movies or pictures. The fact that we all used it as a meeting point despite the enormous crowds of people who were doing the same was also a bit delicious. Since everyone tended to meet anyone who they were meeting in Shibuya there, it was that much harder to pick your friends out in the crowd. Well, it was unless you were a foreigner ("gaijin") meeting a similarly different-looking alien.

I miss the statue of Hachiko as much for the shared sense of it being the place to meet among those who were congregating in Shibuya as the story behind the faithful dog who waiting for his master who had passed away.

Won't Miss #215 - shopping in Shibuya

Shibuya is one of the biggest shopping districts in Tokyo, and it is favored by young people. There are a lot of interesting places there including a wide variety of department and clothing stores, restaurants and the Apple Store nearest my home. While I like the places you can go to in Shibuya, I hate actually being there because of the crowds. Shibuya feels like it is too small for its commerce, unlike Shinjuku which (aside from the station) feels like it better has the street capacity to handle the foot traffic. The sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate the number of pedestrians and seas of people cross the crosswalks when the lights change. It's noisy, busy, and just too much to handle. Unfortunately, there are some shops and establishments that can best be accessed in Shibuya so it's necessary to go there on occasion.

I won't miss shopping in Shibuya.