This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 23 November 2016.
Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku (新宿, lit. 'new lodge'), one of Tokyo's 23 wards. I had never been to Shinjuku before, so once I got my fill of the nighttime views from that tower, I walked over there to finally kick it off my bucket list.
Shinjuku Station is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's busiest railway station. In 2007, for example, it handled an average of 3.64 million people
per day. The central cluster consists of the JR East, Odakyu, and Keio stations. Nearby, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, and Seibu also have stations using the Shinjuku name.
The walk from the Tocho building to Shinjuku station is about 600 metres (2,000 feet). There were a few light installations set up along the way, including these trees which had animated lights "falling" from their branches. Coincidentally, the weather started getting misty off-and-on at this point.
My path then went through an underground passage, emerging on the west side of the station. On the way, I encountered a branch of Megane Drug (メガネドラッグ,
Megane Doraggu), an eyeglass pharmacy chain. Many of their stores are identified by two things: 1) a statue of their mascot, a bespectacled samurai-looking person of indistinguishable gender, and 2) a free station for people to clean their glasses at. I used it, and it helped a bit.
After re-emerging in front of the station, and briefly getting lost amidst the Odakyu and Keio stations/department stores, I had to get something to eat. To that, I turned to Omoide Yokocho (思い出横丁, lit. 'memory lane'), a short and narrow alley, due west of Shinjuku Station. Omoide Yokocho is packed with tiny restaurants serving quick Japanese bites, like yakitori chicken, ramen and soba noodles, and sushi. Most of these places are so small, you could count the number of seats on your hands. I can't remember which of those places I ended up eating at, but the yakitori I got there was delicious!
After leaving Omoide Yokocho and crossing under the train lines, I wound up here. On the east side of the station, the plaza in front of Studio Alta is a popular meeting place. Studio Alta is an advertising agency whose office is identifiable by its giant video monitor. (This picture was taken during a revisit on Wednesday, 9 May 2018.)
The other side of the plaza also had a pair of Mount Fuji light displays, one in blue and one in red.
Pass Studio Alta and cross Yasukuni-dori, and you will wind up in Kabuki-cho (歌舞伎町,
Kabuki-chō). The name comes from a Kabuki theatre that was supposed to be built here in the 1940s, but never came to be. Nonetheless, Kabuki-cho guarantees a wild time. It has many restaurants and nightclubs including, Robot Restaurant, the now-world-famous dinner theatre.
It is also Japan's biggest "red-light district", owing to its concentration of massage parlours, love hotels, hostess clubs... pretty much everything short of actual prostitution (which is technically illegal in Japanese law). If you do choose to venture out into that sort of thing, take extra-special care of your wallet, and your drink. The cover charges on these places can be exorbitant, but that's nothing if someone spikes your drink, and you get charged for way more than you bargained for! But if you stay on the more populated streets, and don't give the touts so much as a glance, you should be fine. Really, the worst thing that happened to me is that I lost track of time at a game centre, time that I could have spent at other winter light places.
This avenue ends in front of the Toho Building. Its tenants include a movie theatre and a hotel, the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. It's a nice mid-range hotel, from what I've looked up. I have never stayed there, but have considered it on several occasions.
And up on the corner of that building is a statue of, you guessed it, Godzilla. The most famous of Japan's movie monsters, Godzilla (ゴジラ,
Gojira) first showed up on the scene in its self-titled 1954 film. Since then, Toho Studios have made 30 official entries in the series. This includes the latest movie,
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, which should be in Japanese theatres and on Netflix by the time you read this. In fact, not too long ago, Godzilla was appointed as the cultural ambassador of Shinjuku, [1] where we are now.
Once you're done with Kabuki-cho, another nightlife area you might like is just next door, to the east. Golden Gai (ゴールデン街,
Gōden Gai) is something of a cross between Kabuki-cho and Omoide Yokocho, in that it is a densely-packed collection of small bars. Each of these watering holes has a unique character brought on by their distinctive decor. Some cater to a few regular customers, accepting new patrons by recommendation only, but others welcome foreigners and locals alike, and are even run by ex-pats themselves. While somewhat less seedy in nature than the rest of Kabuki-cho, the cover charges for these places can add up as well.
Back to places I actually
did go to, this is what it looks like when you turn around from the Toho Building above. There's a luxury goods store here whose front was decorated like an old-style warehouse, which I felt was kind of neat.
Not as neat as this building over here, though. It is called the Yasuyo Hall (安与ホール, Yasuyo Hōru), and it contains public event space in addition to a bank, a hair salon, and an art gallery.
After much aimless navigating, I finally wound back up at Shinjuku Station. Across from the main exit, "Busta Shinjuku" (バスタ新宿,
Basuta Shinjuku) is a new bus terminal that opened earlier in 2016, replacing and improving upon the pre-existing one. If you are taking a long-distance bus from Tokyo, especially to places such as Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi, chances are good that you will depart from here.
As for me, I had to head back down to the subways, as I was on my way to Roppongi for even more holiday lights. Find out how that went, next time on Sekai Ichi!
Access: Shinjuku Station is served by the JR Yamanote
(JY), Chuo
(JC), Chuo-Sobu
(JB), Saikyo
(JA), Shonan-Shinjuku
(JS), Odakyu Odawara
(OH), Keio
(KO), Tokyo Metro Marunouchi
(M), Toei Shinjuku
(S) and Oedo
(E) lines. From Tokyo Station, take the JR Chuo (Rapid) line to Shinjuku (JC05, 15 minutes, ¥200).
Note: If you are using the Toei Oedo line, be aware that there are actually two stations serving different parts of the line. Shinjuku (新宿, E27) is on the south side of the loop, and is closer to Roppongi, Daimon, etc. This station is shared by the Shinjuku subway line and the Keio New Line. Shinjuku Nishi-guchi (新宿西口, E01) is on the north side of the loop, and is closer to Iidabashi, Ryogoku, etc. Both stations are connected with the JR station by underground passages, and both are one stop away from Tocho-mae, so if you mess up and walk into the wrong station, you could go there and transfer to the other half of the line. It is still best to be aware of this ahead of time, lest your commute take longer than expected!
Omoide Yokocho
Hours: Varies between restaurants. Most are open from 5:00 PM to midnight; some are open for lunch. Last orders are usually 30 minutes before closing time.
Website:
(Japanese)
[1]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/godzilla-recruited-as-tourism-ambassador-for-tokyo
