The green train car that sits in the middle of Hachiko Square right outside Shibuya station has made itself useful and English-friendly. Step inside and you will find Shibuya Tourist Information, where bilingual staff await at the counter with maps and tablet PCs to answer your questions about the area and give you tips on enjoying your visit to one of the most crowded parts of the city.
The ward’s first-of-a-kind facility is hosted by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and sponsored by Shibuya Ward. Head down every day from noon-6 p.m. until Aug 31, except in case of rain.
Visit http://visitshibuya.jp (Japanese) or follow them on Twitter (@visitshibuya) to find out what’s new in English.
© Metropolis (www.metropolis.co.jp)
5 Comments
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some14some
Only for 15 days? less rainy days = nett 10 days, to help 10~20 English speaking tourists?
rainman1
@some14some: So, Shibuya Ward do something positive and you just knock it down. Why bother even commenting?
LivingInJapan
At least this is a start. How far behind the rest of the world is Japan when it comes to multilingual assistance? Very far I'd say. My local city office has only two booklets in English for English speakers - poorly written and last updated over 16 years ago!
MoriNoHogosha
Yep, it's a start. Baby steps. Baby steps.
Sadly, I still can't read Japanese worth squat. So even the slightest help is welcome. I just hope they turn it into a regular thing and that the practice spreads to other areas. (Though, I never had a problem getting English travel paraphernalia in Taito and Sendai Shi.) I wouldn't get very far without asking for directions or saying, "Eigo no chizu o kudasai" -_-'
gogogo
It's normally rented out to companies for advertising space, I guess they couldn't fill it up for 15 days and had to put something in there.... I wish companies would call a spade a spade and not release a press release indicting they are doing something for the public when in reality they couldn't sell the space.
Why don't they operate in the rain? Something seems really strange about this entire thing.