Shibuya Crossing
Population of the whole of New Zealand, the last country I visited, stands at 4.5 million (much less than the 6 million souls in Pune), while that of Tokyo metro area is 37 million. Tokyo is big, Tokyo is huge, Tokyo is enormous, Tokyo is gigantic. It tops the list of the most populous metros in the world. Go up 350 m on to the observatory of Sky Tree, or take a trip in the giant ferris wheel in Odaiba to see how vast this city is.
To get a real feel of Tokyo though, take a train to the neon-lit Shibuya Crossing, perhaps the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, where people come from five directions at the same time when the light turns green. I spent an entire afternoon with Soha on the second floor of Starbucks at the QFront building overlooking the Shibuya crossing. Sitting by the window, we took a few pictures and then some more pictures and then even more pictures. And we did some origami. We made a house, a chair and a desk.
Soha had a theory around why Shibuya Crossing became so busy. It wasn’t busy to start with. Then came a few offices and the train station, and it became a little busy, and then came people from around the world to see that and the giant screens and the neon lights, and that made it a lot more busy. And then the two of us came and made it even more busier, making it the busiest crossing in the world.
Now she has an idea for a mobile game app that she wants to name Shibuya Crossing targeted towards toddlers. The interface that she has thought of would have two buttons, people and vehicles. Through the game, the toddlers would learn to count, identify colors, select the right clothing for the weather, identify vehicles, be introduced to traffic rules, and more. And you make different versions of this game for famous landmarks around the world. So there you have it, in case if you were looking for an idea for your next startup.
