Shibuya in the snow

Shibuya (and no doubt the rest of Tokyo) has been covered with a layer of snow tonight.  As I was writing my previous post, it was really bucketing down outside and coating everything with a layer of white.  In as little as 20 minutes, the road outside was covered with an untouched, even white surface – apart from the wheel marks of the first car to drive through the middle of it.

Since the snow became heavier, I decided that I needed to go for another walk to take it all in.  So I put on my warm jacket and woolly hat, and headed off down the street.  The firt thing I noticed was that it was rather slippery.  But unfortunately, it was also already turning to slush, and I doubt that there will be much left by morning.

This is the carpark of my apartment building.

The local 5-way intersection was getting quite slushy.

The snow was still looking nice where not many people had been driving or walking through it.  This is the small triangular park just outside my apartment building.

In Australia, about the only thing convenience stores are good at selling are slushy drinks in summer.  Tonight in Shibuya, the slush was outside the convenience stores.

I headed across to Shibuya Station to see how the snow was building up there.  Mostly, it was just wet, as the traffic (both vehicles and pedestrians) had already caused the snow to melt.  The buses in the West Exit bus loop had some snow on their roofs.

Hachiko had some snow on his head.

The garden beds next to Shibuya Crossing were white.  This is about as empty as you’ll ever see Shibuya Crossing.

In the upmarket Shoto district, some of the streets hadn’t had much traffic and were still white and slippery to walk along.

Shoto Park was white.

There was nobody in the pond tonight, so this warning sign was a little unnecessary in this weather.

Back on Yamate-dori, I found some cars that had a thick layer of snow on their windows.

The longer I stayed out, the more slushy it became.  I suspect all of this will be gone soon, so I’m glad I managed to capture it while I could.

The final photo is a little back street just outside my apartment building.  In the morning, perhaps all the snow will be melted and it will be just another day.  But tonight was fun.