Scramble intersections are fun!

I have always wanted to go to Japan, but after I saw a scramble intersection its an imperative. Whoever thought of this is a genius. The basic idea seems to be this:

-Have perpandicular traffic obeys the lights just like a normal interestion.
-Do not allow pedestrians to cross the street with the green-light traffic
-Instead, stop ALL traffic in EVERY direction and let pedestrians "scramble" however they want across the intersection

Time sequence:
North-South Traffic..........East-West Traffic...........AHHH RUNN ACROSS THE STREET..........Repeat

The theory is that not having to wait for stupid, slow pedestrians to waddle across the street as you are trying to turn creates a much more efficient intersection and also takes away a variable that might distract motorists. A major problem to consider, of course, is how to do you get like a billion people out of the middle of the road when the light turns green. Over all though, I think it looks AWESOME.

Here are some videos of Tokyo's famous Shibuya Scramble, the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, a' la YouTube: