How Tokyo’s Youth is Turning Shibuya Into a Skatepark Overnight Shibuya is a bedazzling city. During the daytime, it’s filled with window shoppers and salarymen, but a completely different crowd comes to life when the sun goes down. Partygoers may be dominant, but skaters know it’s their time to shine. Skateboarding is a street sport that changed the youth culture of Tokyo. Local legends like the T19 crew and foreign pioneers have dug their fingerprints in this scene in Japan, sprouting new genres in fashion, art, and music. Since Yuto Horigome was awarded the gold medal for skateboarding during the last Olympics, Japan looks at this sport differently, being more accommodating and lenient towards skateboarders. However, skating hosts an entirely different culture, like an ever-changing, organic ecosystem. Brands, videos, styles, and locations are crucial for its existence, and the unspoken rules shared in the community hold it together. Skate parks are difficult to access for the average skater in Tokyo, as the closest ones have opening hours parallel to working hours and are situated in the outskirts of the city. On the other hand, Shibuya is an ever-present jungle with perfect curbs and ideal slopes, bumbling with convenient drinking spots and nightlife. The chaos and pure fun the city offers are one of the reasons local skaters join there at night, decidedly converting roads and pedestrian paradises into their workspace. As cops shoo them away from one place to another, skaters of all ages and backgrounds still rule the night of Shibuya. Signs forbidding skateboarding are just as relevant as stickers and tags under bridges. Though their reputation may seem unfavorable, Tokyo’s night skaters are one of the critical things that make this city go round. Here are some clips provided by some of the most talented crews in the country. #sabukaruonline Video 1/3/5/7 by Daisuke Ikeda