To be fair, “Times Square” is iconic as much for its aesthetic and billboards as Piccadilly Circus or Shibuya crossing (or just Tokyo in general..) I personally haven’t heard many or much complaining about Time square billboards- a general sentiment by many is that an area like that is a very “generic” or “corporate” place and many locals and visitors regard similar places as “tourist traps” that more than anything are places people want to visit because they are used a lot in films or ads and such but they’re are generally more entertaining places or magnificent views. That said the “bright lights big city” aesthetic of some of these things just happen to be a draw for many. As humans we can’t seem to escape a primitive drive towards finding bright or shiny things pretty.
I suppose one might be inclined to see foreign billboards as more appealing because they may not be able to understand what they say so to them it isn’t really an ad, just a shiny thing. It’s also true that we tend to find allure in that which isn’t common to us. International commerce means that you may be familiar with brands and companies from other countries, but the way advertisements look or even the companies and products may be out of the ordinary for a person not from a place. A place like Tokyo does tend to have a sort of “futuristic” image to those in places like the US where media for around 40 years tends to portray the country as such, so for many it is probably just the aesthetic matching their expectations.
This seems to maybe be Akihabara, which is colloquially known as "Electric Town"
It's a huge hub of electronics and nerd shit, so it's really not surprising that they have a bajillion billboards. I can attest that even Shibuya doesn't look like this :)
Still, I'm hoping to make at least one pilgrimage there some day.
It's a huge hub of electronics and nerd shit, so it's really not surprising that they have a bajillion billboards. I can attest that even Shibuya doesn't look like this :)