Minor changes to majorly congested Tokyo train station are good to know before you go.

Shibuya Station is one of the most crowded stations in Tokyo, and arguably the most chaotic too. Part of that is simply due to the huge number of people that pass through it every day. Another factor is that, as one of Tokyo’s most vibrant and social media snapshot-able neighborhoods, Shibuya attracts not just locals who know their way around the place, but also out-of-town and out-of-country visitors who might not flow into, out of, and around the station with the same smoothness as those with more extensive personal experience navigating it.

There’s also the fact that Shibuya Station seems to be in a constant state of flux, with the current, ongoing renovations to the station having started all the way back in 2015. The latest development to this decade-plus change-is-the-only-constant status is coming next month, with a change to Shibuya Station’s most prominent gate and access to its most important train line.

First, let’s take a look at the current layout of the to-be-affected section of Shibuya Station, with a map from rail operator JR East.

Making things extra confusing is that on JR East’s map, up is actually west, with north being to the right. Because of that, the white space in the top right of the map is where you’ll find the plaza with the statue of faithful dog Haciko and the world-famous Shibuya scramble intersection. That makes the nearest exit/entrance, the Hachiko Gate (marked on the map as ハチ公口), the one that most travelers are going to want to get to, but it’s going to be in a slightly different space from next month. It’ll be along the same wall, but slid farther to the south.

This isn’t going to be the Hachiko Gate’s permanent location, either. It’s just going to be there for the currently undetermined amount of time it takes for JR East to perform renovations on the current gate. In order to keep pedestrian traffic flowing smoothly, the Hachiko Gate will continue to have an enforced walk-on-the-left policy, and there will be no ticket machines outside it, so if you don’t already have a prepaid and charged-up rail pass, you’ll need to use one of the other gates.

A change is also coming in how passengers using the Hachiko Gate can get to/from the Yamanote Line, the loop line that encircles downtown Tokyo and is highly useful for sightseers and commuters alike. Currently, there’s a stairway inside the station that’s not far from the Hachiko Gate and connects to the Yamanote Line platform, but it’ll become inaccessible next month, with a new stairway opening up across from where the current one’s steps come down to the first floor.

▼ Current Hachiko Gate and Yamanote Line platform stairs (red rectangle and circle) and new gate and stairs (blue rectangle and circle)

▼ And for those who prefer more customary cartographic concepts, here’s the map rotated so that north is at the top.

While neither of these are radical changes to the layout, every bit of advance knowledge helps when planning how to route yourself through a station and neighborhood as congested as Shibuya.

▼ That’s the Hachiko Gate in the background, under the “Shibuya Station” and “力の指輪” signs, and this isn’t even a particularly crowded day.

The changes go into effect on March 1.

Source: Shibuya Keizai Shimbun (1, 2)
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: JR East (edited by SoraNews24)
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