Photo/Illutration Bicycle riders cross the Kokai intersection in Kumamoto's Chuo Ward on Nov. 4. (Kikuma Morikita)

KUMAMOTO--The iconic scramble crossing in front of Tokyo's Shibuya Station is touted as the world's busiest pedestrian intersection, famed for masses of people crossing from all directions without bumping into each other.

But the Shibuya crossing doesn't hold the bragging rights as the first in Japan.

That honor belongs to the scramble crossing in Kumamoto's Chuo Ward, which was installed five years before the one in the capital. 

A monument recognizing the landmark was unveiled near the Kokai intersection during a ceremony held here on Nov. 4.

Engraved with the words, "Birthplace of scramble crossing," the 90-centimeter-tall stone monument stands in one corner leading to the Kokai shopping street from the intersection.

Shopping street vendors, as well as members of local associations affiliated with the Sekidai and Kurokami elementary school districts, pooled their money to erect the monument.

The Kokai intersection was turned into the scramble crossing in 1968, five years prior to the emergence of its Shibuya counterpart.

The entire area was home to Kumamoto University, the prefectural-run Seiseiko Senior High School and Kyushu Women's School (the predecessor of Kyushu Lutheran School).

Trams were running through the neighborhood back then, connecting the area with the Kokaibashi bridge.

It is believed that the Kumamoto prefectural police introduced the scramble crossing system based on an example in New York due to concerns over accidents at the intersection, which was inundated with students and shoppers.

But the number of people who know about the origin from more than 50 years ago has gradually decreased.

The fact that it is Japan's first scramble crossing is only known to those in the know.

Minoru Kihara, a Lower House lawmaker who was invited as a guest at the unveiling ceremony, said he didn't know about the distinction even though he used to cross the intersection on a bicycle while he attended Seiseiko Senior High School.

"When I was in college in Tokyo, I was surprised when I learned from a quiz show that Japan's first scramble crossing is in Kokai and not in Shibuya," he said.

Kumamoto's Chuo Ward head Hiroki Tsuchiya said a friend who hails from the neighborhood told him about the scramble crossing background when he was in college.

"It would make sense if it is in (the city's downtown area of) Torichosuji, but I was half in doubt when I was told that Japan's first is in Kokai," he recalled.

Meanwhile, the prefectural police have taken pride in the scramble crossing.

According to Takeshi Mine, a traffic police officer at the Kumamoto Chuo police station, his police academy instructor said that the epoch-making system was introduced to prevent accidents at the traffic-heavy intersection.

Takahiro Akiyama, 80, head of the local association affiliated with the Kurokami elementary school district, said, "We wanted to let locals, especially children, know that it was introduced even before the one in Shibuya and to pass it down to future generations."

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