Besides of its architectural uniqueness and billboard, it is also where a late 90s fashion trend, known as the gyaru or ganguro fashion began. If these terms aren't familiar to you, maybe these images are:
This type of gyaru style is one of Shibuya 109's characteristics, which became a staple of Tokyo fashion as a result of increasing pro-Western and pro-African American mindsets. Since the gyaru trend considerably died down since the turn of the millennium, it's increasingly hard to find girls fully decked out and made up like the black-face painted girls above. But their styles of fashion still remain similar and are unmistakably Shibuya.
Shops in 109 are all concentrated on this particular type of fashion. Think flashy, sexy, and colorful clothing inspired by cheesy trance/techno music. It's obvious that the store fronts in 109 themselves are equally flashy and overwhelming. Here's a clip from a tourist walking around a floor:
Even the two Japanese tour guides who lead the camera can be heard saying, "Too much..."
If you concentrate, you can probably hear a high-pitched, nasal voice repeat the phrase irrashaimase!(translation: "Welcome!") over and over.
This is a type of shop advertising shopkeepers in Japan use to try and differentiate themselves from competitors. While it started this way, now this kind of high-pitched welcome is a staple in Japanese stores all over Tokyo, not only in Shibuya.
The sound of these shopkeepers aren't only funny to foreigners, but even to local Japanese. It helped launch the career of a current "it-comedian," Yanagihara Kanako. Her debut gag was based on these Shibuya 109 storekeepers, and immediately became a hit. Below is a clip of her actually performing her gag in front of real Shibuya 109 store clerks.
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