Imagine walking into a store where each floor is completely its own, where you can find everything from luggage to cosmetics. This is exactly the feeling you can expect while shopping in one of Tokyo’s most famous shopping districts: Shibuya. While previously the idea of shopping was often centered on convenience and efficiency, in Shibuya shopping is built to be an experience in itself.
All across the world, shopping builds a connection that overcomes language barriers and connects all through a mutual love of shopping. While you walk through Shibuya, you can see just why it is one of Japan’s biggest trend-setting districts. Known for fashion, pop culture and unique retail experiences, Shibuya is truly one of a kind compared to the culture of United States shopping.
Once a small town along Oyama Road, Shibuya began changing into a major commercial center after Shibuya Station opened in 1885 as part of the railway network that would later become the Yamanote Line. In 1979, the iconic Shibuya 109 opened, completely changing the scene of Shibuya and creating a subculture that brought street fashion to the world.
The shopping scene is unlike any other, and instead of driving from store to store, everything is packed into a huge walkable district with every attraction you could imagine. For an American tourist, the shopping scene can feel like a completely different culture than what they may be used to back home.
Compared to shopping in the United States, Shibuya’s bright LED lights and abundance of signs felt like a competition for attention, creating an environment that felt alive and loud, creating an experience for tourists and locals to find a place where they can immerse themselves in the culture of shopping together. Japan treats shopping as an experience that is designed to keep you exploring and wanting more.
Shopping in Shibuya versus the United States definitely has huge differences, while the underlying love for shopping is the same. The overall atmosphere is one of the biggest differences when shopping abroad in Shibuya. When talking to some of the SJMC Japan students about their shopping experience, they not only felt a difference in prices and variety, but they felt a difference in overall worker attentiveness.
Mass communication senior Celeste Montoya said that when shopping around Shibuya, she went to look for shoes at the Onitsuka Tiger store and was greeted with a great amount of attention by store staff that she hadn’t felt before.
“For example, the employee was, like, putting the shoes on for me,” Montoya said. “I wanted a specific color or like, a specific style, and it wasn’t available but instead he brought me another that’s, like, very similar.”
For some, the shopping experience showed the difference in care and attentiveness within the employee-customer relationship, whereas in the United States, it can be hard to find someone willing to sit down with you and spend time making your shopping experience personal because efficiency comes first.
As shoppers weave through the aisles of MEGA Don Quijote Shibuya, they hear loud music over the speakers: “Don Don Don, Donki, Don Don Donki…” plays over and over as they continue to go through countless products. Almost feeling overwhelmed, the excitement takes over as each shopper begins to uncover each level the store has to offer. Compared to a typical Target trip, shopping in Shibuya truly aims to create an immersive experience that you’ll be talking about for weeks.
When shopping in the United States, you know what to expect. Shopping is more of a predictable experience. Shopping in Shibuya, however, feels chaotic and exciting. You are never really sure what you are going to find. Rather than a task, shopping culture in Shibuya is aimed to create a world where shopping is used as a form of entertainment.
Shopping is a culture that brings everyone together. Even with a great language barrier standing between Japan and the United States, you can see a mutual connection form, whether through shared interests, like hunting down the most popular blind box, comparing products or browsing the huge selections.
In America, we can see a lack of passion when it comes to making a cultural experience out of shopping. Consumers in Shibuya appear to live for it.
Cultural shopping scenes are not the only thing that is different when shopping compared to America. When paying in Japanese currency, many students noticed that prices of their everyday items were lower because of the relative strength of the U.S. dollar against a weak yen. One student who went to Don Quijote noticed a $10 price difference in one of their everyday lip products. Pricing throughout all of Shibuya can change based on stores and areas of shopping, but we can see that in Shibuya things cost significantly less in some cases.
With a customer culture that can connect people on a deeper, more personal level, Shibuya and the United States have clearly shown a different way of shopping. One with the intention of creating a lasting experience and one simply there to get you the product you need through efficiency.
While shopping may result in different experiences throughout each area, people still share the same love for hunting down an item, discovering new things, and shared experiences. This shows that shopping is more than just a transaction; it is a form of culture, a culture that connects people across the world.
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