TOKYO, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - Shibuya, the dizzying giant street crossing and centre for Tokyo's young and hip, often gets foreign tourists lost, but it had a more unusual visitor on Wednesday -- a monkey.

The half-metre (20-inch) long monkey was spotted jumping back and forth on top of a sign for Shibuya station, a major train hub surrounded by boutiques, bars and skyscrapers.

Young people clad in the Shibuya fashion of oversized sunglasses and baseball caps flocked to take snapshots of the displaced monkey.

Dozens of police officers rushed to the station and tried to catch the monkey with nets, but the animal disappeared somewhere in the urban entertainment district.

Shibuya, whose main station exit is reputed to be the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, was one of the settings of 'Lost in Translation,' Sofia Coppola's film about two jaded Americans' journey through the Tokyo nightlife.

Residents of other parts of western Tokyo have also reported seeing a monkey in the past few days but it was unclear whether it was the same animal.