Around Shibuya Station: before it was Shibuya

Was Shibuya Named After a Rust-Colored River?

Even Shibuya City does not claim to know exactly where its name originated. Its official history presents several competing theories without choosing a definitive answer. One suggests that an old settlement called Shioya, associated with salt, gradually became Shibuya. Another tells of a late-Heian-period landholder, Kawasaki Shigeie, who reportedly captured a thief named Shibuya Gon no Suke Morikuni and received the Shibuya surname as a reward from Emperor Horikawa. A third theory connects the name with iron-rich river water that supposedly had a reddish, rusty color. A fourth derives it from the shape of a narrow, depressed valley along the river. Shibuya City Library records additional explanations, including a possible connection with Shibuya Manor in Sagami Province. None is established as the single correct origin.

→ Find the Shibuya River near Shibuya Stream and examine how the surrounding streets occupy the valley.

Sources (in Japanese): 渋谷区公式・地名の由来（渋谷）, 渋谷区立図書館・「渋谷」の名はどこからきたの

Was the Area Around Shibuya Crossing Once a Black Market?

In May 1945, an air raid devastated much of central Shibuya. According to Tokyu's corporate history, the destruction was so extensive that people were said to be able to see from the railway platforms toward Dogenzaka without buildings blocking their view. After the war, street stalls selling scarce goods appeared between today's Hachiko Square and Dogenzaka. On the eastern side of the station, another commercial district called the First Market consisted of approximately 70 makeshift structures.

Shibuya's earlier history was equally different from its current image. The neighborhood developed in a valley near the Shibuya River. When Shibuya Station opened in 1885, it had a small wooden station building. The Toyoko Line arrived in 1927, followed by Toyoko Department Store in 1934, a pioneering railway-terminal department store in the Kanto region. Another railway connection, now part of the Ginza Line, opened in 1938.

Following postwar reconstruction, new shopping and cultural developments transformed Shibuya again. Shibuya PARCO and the shopping complex now called SHIBUYA109 helped establish its identity as a center of youth fashion and culture.

→ Stand near Hachiko Square and look toward Dogenzaka, imagining the postwar market stalls that once occupied this busy entrance to Shibuya.

Sources (in Japanese): 東急株式会社「東急100年史・戦後復興と第一マーケット」, 東急株式会社「渋谷発展の歴史」, 東急株式会社「東急グループと渋谷」