Shibuya: What’s Changed and What’s to Come?

Shibuya is undergoing one of Tokyo's biggest urban transformations: a huge redevelopment of its station complex and surroundings. Starting in the late 2000s and expected to reach completion by 2035, the project involves a complete rebuilding of the station and its surroundings. In this article, we'll take a look at what has already changed over the past 15 years and what is still to come.

What's changed?

While the station has been around since 1885, the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing wasn't inaugurated until 1973. From there it gradually became known as the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, with as many as 3,000 people crossing at any one time.

The first change was when the Tokyu Toyoko Line station was relocated to be underground in 2013. This freed up a huge amount of space above ground and was a core change to make way for the entire redevelopment project. It also meant that the JR tracks and platforms could be rearranged to create larger, parallel platforms, a welcome change in comparison to the previous platforms that were small and far apart from each other. On top of that, the Toyoko Line was connected to the Fukutoshin Line to reduce transfers.

But while they continue to work on things, I'm not going to lie, the station is pretty confusing. For example getting from Scramble Crossing to the Ginza Line means instead of going through the main entrance on the Scramble Crossing side, you need to do a big detour to the other side of the station and up the escalators. All this current confusion is for the greater good, though, as everything will be much easier to pass through and seamlessly get to all the different levels in the next few years.

So, a lot has changed in the past 15 years, with still more to come. Let's take a look at those changes before we get to what there is to look out for.

One of the first new buildings to arrive was Hikarie, in 2012. There's not too much for tourists here, but if you don't mind a different view of scramble crossing but really hate the crowds, there's a peaceful little area here to get some pictures for free.

Hikarie (2012):

• 11 floors of department store shopping and dining
• Views from floor 9 and restaurants on floors 7 and 8
• Stage for performances
• Direct connections to the station

A more interesting one for train fans is Shibuya Stream, which opened in 2018. While most of the building is dedicated to office and event spaces and a hotel, there are four floors of shops and restaurants, where you'll find nods to the former Tokyu station. Replica tracks have been incorporated into the floor, and old elements of the station have been reimagined. Following these former railway tracks outside takes you to Daikanyama, which is a nice walk partially accompanied by the once-forgotten Shibuya River, the inspiration for Stream's name.

Shibuya Stream (2018)

• 5 floors of shops and restaurants
• Multi-purpose halls
• Stream Hotel
• Office spaces, including Google Japan headquarters

A year later, Scramble Square opened, becoming the tallest building in Shibuya at 229 meters. Its height made it perfect for the Shibuya Sky facility with its paid observation deck on the 45th floor and up. This is the most central star of the station renewal, with its east tower being the first of three buildings, while the other two are currently under construction directly on top of the station itself. And if you want a free view of the crossing, you can head to the 12th floor amongst all the fancy modern shops and restaurants to find a spacious viewing area.

Scramble Square East Tower (2019)

• Tallest tower in Shibuya (229m)
• 17 floors of modern shopping and dining
• Paid rooftop observation area (Shibuya Sky)
• Free floor 12 observation area
• First of three towers; central and west towers currently under construction on top of the station

Also in 2019, the completely rebuilt Parco Shibuya opened with some cute outdoor spaces and stairs to its gamer area on the 6th floor, filled with Nintendo, SEGA and all sorts.

Parco Shibuya (2019)

• 2 floors of restaurants
• 14 floors of shops and cafes
• Rooftop terrace
• Anime and gaming goods on the 6th floor (including Nintendo, SEGA, etc.)

And finishing off 2019, certainly a busy year, was Fukuras and its commercial space, Tokyu Plaza Shibuya. There are seven floors here of shops and restaurants, but for travellers, probably the most interesting is the rooftop floors and the first floor, which has a tourist information centre and a bus terminal operating buses to and from the airports.

Then in 2020 we saw the opening of the edgy Miyashita Park, inspired by the area's vibrant urban culture blending chic shops and cafes with more gritty izakaya and skate shops. They even preserved the park that used to be here by moving it to the rooftop!

Miyashita Park (2020)

• 3 spacious floors of shops and restaurants
• Rooftop garden with a sports and event space
• Hotel Sequence Miyashita Park

And in 2024, Sakura Stage opened, spanning two full towers - the Shibuya tower and the Sakura tower. That said, there is not a great deal to for tourists see here beyond a relatively small number of shops and restaurants.

Sakura Stage (2024)

• Shops and restaurants
• Business and lifestyle facilities
• Direct access to the station

A couple of other smaller, but noteworthy mentions for shoppers are that the Starbucks looking out over crossing was renovated to be less cramped, and Shibuya 109, a youth fashion mall, got an older sister, Magnet, offering manga shops, restaurants, and great views of the crossing. Now, Shibuya has become this bustling hub with its huge skyscrapers known for shopping and nightlife.

What's to come?

So, what's going on in 2026 and beyond? Well, this year we have a pretty major shopping mall opening, as well as a few interesting new individual spots.

The biggest Shibuya news of the year is the opening of Shibuya Marui, Japan's first shopping complex to be made mostly out of wood in a bid for sustainability. It will be 11 floors of shopping and food in what will hopefully be a little bit more welcoming than the standard concrete skyscrapers!

On a much smaller scale, here's a little list of a few new restaurants that have opened in 2026:

• Shogun Pizza
• Gelato Pique Cafe
• New York Bagel Street

And finally, let's take a peek into the future of Shibuya.

The Shibuya Upper West project and Bunkamura are due to reach completion by 2030. Bunkamura is a long-established cultural complex housing a theater, concert hall, cinema and museum, currently closed during these renovations. Next door is where the Shibuya Upper West project is being constructed, on the site of the former Tokyu department store. When complete, it will offer shopping, hotels and residences, as well as the relocated Bunkamura museum.

Also by 2030, we'll have an interesting photo spot in the 2-chome redevelopment behind Hikarie.

The centerpiece of Shibuya station's future is the completion of the Scramble Square complex. The central and western towers will be built directly on top of the station itself. These are expected to open by 2032.

The Scramble Square work brings with it a very important change to the never-ending flow of pedestrians, as there will be new multi-level terraces and walkways set to be usable by 2035. So remember that long detour I had to make earlier to get to the Ginza Line? Well the new walkways will eventually make that trip a lot smoother.

Of course, new individual shops and restaurants are popping up all the time, so there's always something new to see in Shibuya!