Weill in Japan Jason Weill Web Productions
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Shibuya

Shibuya is an area of Tokyo favored by go-go youth and tourists galore. Amidst swarming crowds of people, you'll find the world's most profitable Starbucks coffee house, the world's largest HMV music store, as well as massive über-department store Shibuya 109. I visited Shibuya twice: once on my own, and another time with classmates to see the Godzilla exhibit at the Tokyo Energy Museum.

This statue commemorates the life of Hachiko, a dog who patiently waited outside Shibuya station for his owner every day, even years after the owner died. Shibuya is the home of the world's busiest intersection, serving thousands of people every time the light changes during busy times.  It's located just outside the subway station.  On the extreme right of this picture you can see a part of one of the world's largest screens, projected onto about ten stories of plate-glass windows. Another view of the incredibly busy intersection, this time with Shibuya 109 looming in the background. The Casio store features a giant-sized G-Shock watch that actually works. A view of one of the many side-streets, with the appropriated Smap! soda building visible in the distance. People stand in long lines to get a taste of Smap! soda, the only soda in Japan to be named after a boy band.  Of course, the soda is available in vending machines and convenience stores everywhere, but this is ground zero for the drink's explosive popularity.  Note the attentive maintenance people at the ready with cases of Smap! soda. The promoters were really ambitious about promoting Smap!'s new album and its associated soda.  This can spans about four stories. Beverage maker Suntory tapped The Simpsons to promote their C.C. Lemon soft drink.  This billboard on the side of the train station features Homer shilling for his drink of choice. Yoyogi National Stadium, which I saw when I got lost and nearly wandered over to Harajuku. Costume and set pieces from various Godzilla movies. Me with a small-scale Godzilla statue. The head from a Mecha-Godzilla model used in movies. A scale model of Tokyo being destroyed by Godzilla. Another character from the Godzilla movies. Scripts from every Godzilla movie. Drawings and schematics from various Godzilla movies. Posters from Godzilla movies. Posters from Godzilla movies. One of my classmates poses with a museum employee and a Godzilla model.