Shinjuku

Introduction

Shinjuku, officially called Shinjuku City, is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo. It is a place where you can experience the many sides of the Japanese capital within a single ward.

Before you go

Getting there

Getting around

Trains and the subway are the backbone of getting around Shinjuku and the rest of Tokyo: the rail network is dense, frequent, and well signed in English, and it connects the area to essentially everywhere you are likely to go. Buses fill in the gaps, taxis cover short or late-night trips, and much of central Shinjuku is genuinely walkable once you are above ground. The single most important practical skill is learning to navigate Shinjuku Station itself, effectively a giant multi-level warren of department stores, restaurants, commercial buildings, railway facilities, and underground shopping malls that radiate out for kilometers beneath the surrounding streets. Getting lost is normal for visitors, and helpful locals regularly approach and assist travelers who seem lost.

Shinjuku Station is served by several different railway companies, which is the key to understanding it. JR lines include the Yamanote, Chuo, Sobu, Saikyo, and Shonan-Shinjuku lines; subway service is provided by the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi and Fukutoshin lines and the Toei Shinjuku and Ōedo lines; and the station is also a terminal for the Keio, Odakyu, and Seibu Shinjuku private railway lines, which is why the complex feels like several stations stitched together. When transferring between lines owned by the same company, you can walk directly to your next platform without passing through ticket gates. If you cannot find signs for your next line, exit the current company's ticket gates, stay inside the main building, and look for signs directing you to your next line, entering through the ticket gates of a different railway company. When in doubt, head towards the East Exit gates, since most things of tourist interest are located to the east of the station.

• If it is raining, bypass street level entirely via the Metro Promenade: look for yellow overhead signs pointing to this massive underground walkway running directly east from the station, which lets you walk indoors straight into major department stores. If you arrived on an above-ground railway line such as any of the JR lines, go below ground to find it, following signs to the Marunouchi line without entering its ticket gates.
• Most bus routes, especially highway buses, have been consolidated into the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal (SEBT, or Busta Shinjuku), above the JR tracks at Shinjuku Station. Airport limousine buses also stop at the station and at all major hotels in Shinjuku, but they are prone to traffic delays, so allow extra time if you are relying on one to catch a flight.
• Taxis are a practical option for short hops, late nights, or when carrying luggage, and can be hailed on the street or picked up at taxi stands around the station.
• Central Shinjuku is very walkable, and many of its best-known districts sit close together east of the station: Kabukichō, near Seibu-Shinjuku Station; Golden Gai, a small block east of Kabukichō; and Shinjuku Ni-chōme, Tokyo's best-known gay district. Shinjuku Gyo-en, a large park blending Japanese traditional, English landscape, and French formal style gardens, offers a green escape within walking distance, while Nishi-Shinjuku to the west holds Tokyo's largest concentration of skyscrapers, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Other neighborhoods worth knowing include Ōkubo, around Okubo and Shin-Okubo stations, Tokyo's historic ethnic Korean neighborhood, and Takadanobaba, a major residential and nightlife area for students and a commuter hub.

Where to stay

Shinjuku's sleeping options span from capsule pods to some of Tokyo's most luxurious towers. For budget travellers, Sakura Hotel Hatagaya offers a round-the-clock cafe serving Asian dishes, with English-speaking staff. Tama Ryokan provides a lounge and internet access, with rates that drop when more than one person shares a room. Manboo Internet & Comic Cafe has small private rooms with reclining chairs, internet, TV and headphones, plus free soft drinks and coffee. Ace Inn Shinjuku is a capsule hotel with a ninth-floor common space where guests from around the world meet, free WiFi throughout, and English-speaking staff.

Mid-range choices include Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, which has a restaurant, bar and massage parlour and is recommended for taller guests, and Shinjuku Prince Hotel in Kabuki-cho with restaurants, a bakery and a salon. Hotel Sunlite Shinjuku offers singles and doubles with web-page discounts, while Tokyu Stay Yotsuya, popular with business travellers, provides kitchenettes, washer/dryers and free LAN access in all rooms, with slight discounts for extended stays. The western side of Shinjuku has a notable concentration of luxury hotels with great views over the city, most catering to business travellers. Among them are the Hyatt Regency Tokyo, with views of Mt Fuji and Shinjuku Central Park, a Regency Club lounge and a roof-top pool and health spa; Keio Plaza Hotel, with spacious rooms, city views, free WiFi and bicycle sharing; Hotel Century Southern Tower, with well-furnished rooms, a good breakfast buffet and views from its 20th-floor lobby; Park Hyatt Tokyo, known for featuring in Lost in Translation, with a 47th-floor pool and the New York Bar on the 51st floor; Hilton Tokyo, facing the Shinjuku Metropolitan Government office and home to the Hiltopia underground shopping arcade with a tourist information centre and foreign bookstore; and Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo, a luxury hotel with a casual modern interior on the Koshu Kaido. For longer stays, Sakura House in Nishi-Shinjuku is worth checking if you plan to stay a month or more.

Food & drink

• For inexpensive restaurant arcades, head to the upper floors of the Lumine and Mylord shopping complexes on the south side of the JR station. Pasutakan serves okonomiyaki cooked at your table, Khao San does Thai street-stall-style food in a packed, hectic room, and Blumare offers pizza and pasta in a building full of restaurants run by Sapporo Beer.
• Suzuya in Kabukichō is a tonkatsu restaurant known for its green tea tonkatsu, and also serves other tonkatsu and katsudon. Acacia near the station's east exit specialises in cabbage rolls and set menus with hashed rice and pork sauté.
• Martiniburger pairs large hamburgers made with high-quality ground beef with martinis.
• Mid-range options include Botejyu for okonomiyaki and yaki-soba, Juttoku, an izakaya with an excellent sake selection, Kappō Nakajima for sardine dishes such as yanagawa teishoku, and Hokkaido for seafood and Hokkaido specialities with a view. Yanbaru serves Okinawan food emphasising pork and unusual vegetables, with a picture menu available.
• For something different, try Bosphorus Hasan for authentic Turkish halal food, Din Tai Fung for Taiwanese dim sum and xiǎolóngbāo soup dumplings, Nabezo for all-you-can-eat shabu shabu, Onegiya for traditional-but-modern Japanese dishes built around leeks, or Zauo, where indoor fishing is combined with dinner.
• At the splurge end, Torafugu-Tei specialises in fugu prepared several ways, fresh from the tank.

For drinking, Kabukichō to the northeast of the station is Tokyo's most notorious red-light district, quiet by day but packed at night. South of it lies Shinjuku Ni-chome, Tokyo's largest gay district. Golden Gai, a few narrow alleys on the east edge of Kabukichō, is packed with tiny bars, some up very steep steps; many rely on regulars, so strangers may get a frosty reception, a cover charge, or both. Some bars have karaoke and ancient mama-sans, one has an old man who speaks Spanish and plays flamenco videos, and another has a good jazz collection. Araku is Australian-run and less intimidating than many others; Bar K welcomes foreigners; Hair of The Dogs is a punk rock bar with cocktails, beer and a music menu; Bar Albatross-G is a casual cocktail bar with a small snack included in the cover; Rock Bar: Mother has punk and metal CDs; Godz Bar is a heavy metal and hard rock bar; and Champion is a one-coin bar with English-speaking staff. On the west side of the Yamanote tracks, Omoide Yokochō is a small alley filled with yakitori joints. Beyond it, into the skyscrapers of West Shinjuku, the nightlife largely dies out.

What to see and do

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a large public garden a short walk east of the station, with Japanese, English and French gardens, a Taiwanese teahouse and a greenhouse. It is one of the most popular places in the city for cherry blossoms in spring, and the entrance fee keeps it surprisingly uncrowded and peaceful. Hanazono Shrine, near the intersection of Meiji-dori and Yasukuni-dori, is more remarkable for its location than its appearance, but it makes a nice place to take a breather, and there is often a flea market in the surrounding park on weekends. For views over the city, head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Center in Nishi-Shinjuku, where the twin observatories on the 45th floor are free to enter. The building itself is an architectural landmark, and the adjacent NS Building hides the world's largest pendulum clock in its full-height atrium. The Tokyo Toy Museum in Yotsuya occupies an old school filled with toys and small houses, and the Fire Museum nearby holds helicopters, trucks and floors of exhibitions that go down well with children. Suga Shrine is small, but its front stairs are famous as the backdrop of an animated film.

For a breather of a different kind, walk the Shinjuku Southern Terrace promenade, which offers a view of the Takashimaya department store and a bridge that is the best spot for watching trains enter and exit. The area east of the station takes in Shinjuku-sanchōme and the surrounding red-light districts; by day it is perfectly safe to wander and take in the billboards of escorts and the live gangster-types acting shady, more cultural interest than sleaze, though it is probably not one to do with children. The square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance is the place for people-watching. To the west, Tokyo Opera City in Hatsudai holds the New National Theatre Tokyo, concert halls and two art museums, one specialising in multimedia art. Sports fans can catch university and professional baseball at Meiji Jingu Stadium, also used for the Tokyo qualifying round of the National High School Baseball Tournament, or visit the Japan National Stadium, completed as the main venue for the Summer Games. Karaoke is easy to find, with the Karaokekan chain offering rooms from one person up to large parties and all-you-can-drink set menus. Several cinemas cluster around Shinjuku-sanchōme, including Shinjuku Piccadilly, Wald 9 and Cinem@rt Shinjuku, the last of which runs discount days for men and women.

When to go

Shinjuku has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons, so what you pack depends heavily on when you visit. Winters are generally mild, with January temperatures cool but not severe, making it a comfortable season to explore the area on foot. Summer is a different matter: August is the warmest month, and the heat is hot and humid, so plan for slow, shaded days and plenty of fluids.

Two wet periods shape the calendar. The rainy season runs from June to early July, bringing frequent showers, so carry rain gear and expect wet days if you travel then. September can also see typhoons and heavy rainfall, which may disrupt travel plans, so stay aware of storm forecasts if you visit in early autumn.

Three days in Shinjuku

Day one: Start with the scale of Shinjuku itself, where the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices and the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower give the skyline its shape. Wander into Kabukichō for the dense nightlife and street food, then eat your way through the area's Asian restaurants, whether Korean, Chinese or Thai. In the evening, Takadanobaba is a short ride away on the Yamanote Line and makes an easy, student-heavy contrast to the centre.

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices
• Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower
• Kabukichō
• Takadanobaba

Day two: Give the day to Shinjuku City's quieter corners. Waseda University and its surrounding streets reward a slow walk, and the Shinjuku Convention and Visitors Bureau is the place to check what is on while you are in town. If you are here in June, July, August or September, plan around the heat and humidity rather than against it. Before you set out, do confirm opening arrangements, and if anything goes wrong, daijōbu — the Nigerian and other international food options around the ward keep the evening simple.

• Waseda University
• Shinjuku Convention and Visitors Bureau

Day three: Use the rail network to widen your view of Tokyo. From Narita, the Keisei Skyliner, Narita Express and Keisei Narita Skyaccess all feed into the city, with Nippori a useful interchange onto the JR Yamanote Line. Once you are back in Shinjuku, the JR lines and the Shinjuku Line make Chūō and the rest of the centre straightforward to reach. Keep an eye on police notices and station signage, and let the Yamanote loop carry you home.

• Narita
• Keisei Skyliner
• Narita Express
• Keisei Narita Skyaccess
• Nippori
• JR Yamanote Line
• Shinjuku Line
• Chūō