Posts Tagged ‘shibuya’

Monkey spotted in Tokyo’s Minato Ward

FTV reports that a monkey, possibly the same one spotted in Shibuya Station last month, was seen in Tokyo’s Minato Ward yesterday:

Witnesses first spotted it in the area about a week ago, eating a Japanese persimmon plucked from a tree. The most recent sighting of the monkey took place at a temple, where it was reportedly fighting with two or three crows. Residents were able to snap a photo of the monkey, allowing an expert to examine its facial features and proclaim that this is probably the famous Shibuya Station monkey.

Shibuya monkey spotted in Kanda

The monkey that made a daring escape after nearly being captured by police inside Shibuya Station remains at large. Yesterday he was spotted in the Kanda area of Tokyo:

Residents of the area managed to take a few photographs of the monkey, which are shown in the TBS news report video above. They all comment on how agile and fast the monkey was, with one man declaring that the monkey could win a gold medal at the Olympics.

Police attempts to trap the monkey through the use of bait have failed, but they have vowed to continue their efforts and capture him alive.

Monkey spotted at Shibuya station

A wild monkey was spotted inside Shibuya station this morning, but police failed to capture the beast:

“It’s a monkey – it’s not like it did anything bad,” a police spokesman said, adding that the animal was still on the loose.

The monkey was spotted hopping around by the automatic ticket gates at a train line in Shibuya Station in central Tokyo at about 9:40 a.m. .

It then ran downstairs to the entrance to another line, climbed up and down a pillar and ran around the ticketing machines before taking refuge on top of a train information board for two hours, a spokeswoman for railway operator Tokyu Corp said.

The police attempts to capture the monkey with nets can be seen in the news report videos below.

FTV’s coverage:

ATVs coverage:

NTV’s coverage (via Pink Tentacle):

Footage from somebody’s camera (via Q-Taro)

The monkey proved to be very fast, and eventually made his escape by climbing up on the the Yamanote Line tracks and bolting out of sight. According to an expert interviewed by FTV, the monkey appeared to be about 7 years-old and is likely to have originated in the Okutama area. Some believe that the monkey seen in Shibuya today may have been the same monkey sighted earlier this month in Koganei and Setagaya-ku.

[hat tip to Mark]

Foreign Butler Cafe in Shibuya

Anybody been to the cafe in Shibuya with foreign “butler” staff?

Just stepping over the threshold, Japanese woman can forget for a few hours that they are in Shibuya, one of the capital’s most crowded areas, and enter a world where a handsome man rushes to the tinkle of her bell, goes down one knee and asks: “Yes, my princess?”

The cafe offers a variety of homemade food, sweets and drinks, as well as photo shoots in which a favourite butler holds the woman in the air — and English lessons.

Since opening in mid-2006, Butlers Cafe has attracted around 2,000 frequent customers.

Yuki Nozaki, a 23-year-old childminder, and kindergarten teacher Aki Nakamura, 24, say they come at least once a month to enjoy a fleeting moment of romance.

“At first I was really shy about the concept of this cafe, but all the butlers are very cute, cheerful and sweet and, above all, the fact that they’re foreigners helps us to escape from reality,” Nozaki said.

“Even now after visiting so many times, we feel excited when the door opens. I need this kind of excitement in my life,” she said.

More information, such as menu prices and photos, can be found at the official website of the butlers cafe. They are also hiring foreign men to work as butlers (just click on the Brad Pitt “WANTED” poster).