Shibuya has many faces: a glitzy youth-oriented fashion center as represented by the 109 Building, a mass transit terminal handling 1.77 million passengers a day, a fast growing village of IT niche market players, and so on. With a complex network of large and small streets, the versatile town offers something for everybody, if short of the scale and stylishness of Shinjuku and Roppongi.
Modern Shibuya first emerged in 1885 when Nippon Railroad, now the Yamanote Line, was built across the farming valley of the Shibuya River. Toyoko and Keio lines soon followed, bringing commuters from western suburbs, and Japan's first subway, the Ginza Line, emerged from Asakusa in 1939, all combining to change the Shibuya landscape from a pastoral suburb to a bustling urban center.
Before the advent of railroads, an upland southwest of Shibuya Station was initially settled. In the late 11th century a military tribe built a fortress there and called themselves the Shibuya Clan, using the name of the area to claim their territory. Supporting Minamoto-no Yoritomo in his uprising against the Taira family in Kyoto, the Shibuyas achieved fame and developed a strong base in the area until they were defeated by another clan based in Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1526.