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Shibuya Crossing & Station Fronts: 12 Live Cameras in Japan

Shibuya Crossing, the east exit of Shinjuku Station, and the forecourts of the new Hokuriku Shinkansen stops — twelve places where people and cars gather.

What you can see

These 12 cameras were not put up to show the city. They are there to show how many people and cars are in one place right now. Shibuya comes from the news network FNN; Shinjuku from Cross Space, which runs the big screen above the square; Nagano from the local cable company INC Nagano; Toyama from the broadcaster KNB; and the Daimyocho crossing in Fukui from FBC Fukui. The five Fukui station cameras come from the Fukui Prefecture Taxi Association, and the two at Kyoto Station from the Kyoto City Tourism Association.

All 12 are live video. A crossing fills and empties each time the signal changes; a train pulls in and a queue forms on the platform. That movement is the whole point here, and a still image once an hour cannot show it.

You can read the crowd because each frame contains something that does not move: the white stripes of the crossing, the kerb of the taxi circle, the length of the queue. Shibuya is seen from above at an angle, with people flowing in from five directions, so one signal cycle's worth of people shows up as a single band. The Shinjuku east exit is filmed from the position of the big screen known for its 3D cat, looking down over the square, so the street of signboards and the railway beyond it fit in one frame. Kyoto Station has one camera at the Karasuma bus terminal and one at the Hachijo taxi rank, so the length of the queue tells you how busy the city is that day.

The five Fukui station cameras cover four stops on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, extended to Tsuruga in March 2024. Awara-Onsen has two: one looking sideways at the elevated station building from the forecourt, one close up on the local-line platform beneath it. Echizen-Takefu has an unusual white ring of canopy around its plaza, with factories and rice fields beyond. Tsuruga is seen from high up, over a long wooden roof. What you are watching is how a brand-new station forecourt actually gets used.

The Nagano and Toyama cameras show more of what lies beyond the station than the station itself. JR Nagano looks down into the tracks from a building by the forecourt, with the city and a line of mountains stacked up past the platform roofs. Toyama's north exit is filmed from the roof of the broadcaster's head office; the forecourt and the elevated platforms sit side by side, and at night the lights of the city spread out. If you want the weather first, these two are quicker.

Cameras you can watch now: 12

All 12 are live video. Tap one to open it in the camera list.

When to watch

Station cameras change more across a day than any others here. In the morning people head for the gates; in the evening the flow reverses. Around midday the cars stand out more than the people, and late at night both thin out.

Shibuya is best at night. The advertising on the surrounding buildings lights the crossing, and each time the signal changes a band of people fills the crosswalk. The Shinjuku square also reads more clearly after dark from where the big screen stands.

Winter changes the Hokuriku views completely. Toyama's north exit and the four Fukui stations are in snow country: the frame stays the same and the scene turns white, with tyre tracks in the circle and cleared snow banked along the pavement.

The two Kyoto Station cameras grow queues in the tourist seasons. The Karasuma bus terminal is where the routes to the city's sights depart, so in cherry-blossom and autumn-colour season the length of the line is the crowding. Look before you set off and you can decide to take the subway instead. The Hachijo taxi rank is on the Shinkansen side, so it keeps moving late into the night.

If you are watching from abroad, think in Japan time. The Japanese morning commute falls on the previous evening or afternoon where you are, depending on the offset.

If it isn't showing

By prefecture, the Tokyo, Nagano, Toyama, Fukui and Kyoto pages list the rest of the cameras in each. Fukui also has city and coast views; Kyoto has more temple and shrine cameras than anywhere else.

For the same “check the crowd before you go” use, Temple and Shrine Approaches and its 23 cameras is the closest page. How to read Kyoto's crowding is in Reading Kyoto's crowds before you go, and which Japanese hour matches yours is in Which cameras are in daylight now.

Where to find Shibuya Crossing & Station Fronts

Agencies publishing the cameras on this page

The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.

To find other cameras, go to the camera list. You can narrow all 233 cameras by format, region, subject and provider.