Shinjuku: Skyscrapers Reaching Out For Tokyo Nightlife

Things To Do In Tokyo: Get Squashed On The Train

When you arrive in Shinjuku, Tokyo, it will most likely be through Shinjuku Station.

Why would I state the obvious?

Well let me put it this way: Just imagine that you and the entire population of Yokohama (3.6 million people) traveled through the station each day.

Imagine no longer because on average, the station has more than 3.6 million passangers pass through it everyday!

Split into Eastern and Western areas they can best be described as Night and Day .

The West side is an administrative center, home to the 1 billion dollar Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices.

Skyscrapers are the order of the day and each morning welcome back over a quarter of a million workers. No doubt many of whom look forward to the end of the day so they can head on over to the East side.

Despite being mostly office buildings and hotels it does have Yodobashi Camera (my favorite camera store chain), Bic Camera, and Sakuraya, the three big photography and electronics stores in Tokyo.

Play in Shinjuku At Night And Day

If the Western side is the daytime heart of Shinjuku, then the Eastern side is undoubtedly its night.

The center of Tokyo nightlife since the Edo period, it is famous for its redlight district Kabukicho, and narrow streets with bars so small there is barely enough room for the bar itself let alone the patrons in places like Golden Gai.

During the daytime the whole area looks less than inviting but the streets come alive as the sun sets with a blaze of glaring neon signs.

Although the flashing neon beckons the Japanese salarymen to enter everything from hostess bars to pachinko parlors, more often than not, foreigners are probably less welcome.

If you are on the East side during the day, it does offer a number of fashionable department stores like Isetan. Filled with designer boutiques from top Western and Japanese designers it is particularly popular with younger Japanese who have money to burn.
A great place to take some time out and take a stroll or have a picnic is the beautifully manicured Sinjuku Gyoen National Garden which is south east of the station.

But if you just want to catch your breath, take a look at Hanazono Jinja. It is a Shinto Shrine that hosts a Japanese Festival called Tori no Ichi.

If you are looking for some good books to read on the train, Kinokuniya Bookstore South Store, has a large selection of foreign books and magazines on the 7th floor. If you need any help trying to find what you want, the staff on this floor tend to speak English.

They also have plenty of English Manga, but be ready to pay more than $10 per book.

Don`t say I didn`t warn you.

If you can read Japanese get ready to spend the day there, because with 9 fantastic floors of wall to wall books, you`ll no doubt find what you are looking for (or something you didn`t know you needed to read but suddenly find that you can`t live with out).

See also:
Kabukicho
Hanazono Jinja
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

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