Tokyo/Shinjuku

Shinjuku (新宿) is a central ward of Tokyo known as the metropolis' second center (副都心, fukutoshin). The area surrounding Shinjuku Station is a huge business, commercial, and entertainment center atop the world's busiest railway station complex. To the north lies Takadanobaba (高田馬場), where students from nearby Waseda University cross paths. The residential areas of Yotsuya (四谷) and Ichigaya (市谷 or 市ヶ谷), with their many small restaurants and drinking establishments, lie to the east. Kagurazaka (神楽坂), one of Tokyo's last remaining hanamachi (geisha districts), is also home to some of the city's most authentic French and Italian restaurants. Over 300,000 people – including nearly 30,000 foreign residents – call Shinjuku their home, and the city offers a wide variety of options for work or play.

(This article contains some things in the northernmost part of Shibuya ward. In fact, JR Shinjuku station straddles the two wards.)

Understand


The west side of Shinjuku, a seismically stable area that escaped the last earthquake with nary a scratch, is Tokyo's skyscraper district featuring (among others) the gargantuan Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices and the curved form and webbed façade of the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower.

The east side of Shinjuku is devoted to shopping and nightlife, including Tokyo's largest red-light district Kabukichō (歌舞伎町) and gay nightlife central Shinjuku ni-chōme (新宿２丁目).

Nearby Ōkubo (大久保), one stop west of Shinjuku on the Chuo line (also Shin-Ōkubo, on the Yamanote), has many other Asian restaurants and grocery stores — Korean, Chinese, Thai, Arab and more. Takadanobaba (高田馬場), the next stop on the Yamanote Line after Shin-Ōkubo, is popular with students from nearby Waseda University.

Tourist Information Site
Shinjuku Convention and Visitors Bureau has a Japanese-only guide site with integrated machine translation.

By plane
The fastest way to reach Shinjuku from Narita Airport is to take the Keisei Skyliner train and change at Nippori to the JR Yamanote Line (which can be very crowded at peak hours, making it inconvenient to haul luggage). This takes approximately 65-80 minutes with transfer and costs ¥2780. JR's Narita Express offers a one-seat ride to Shinjuku, but it takes longer (95 minutes) and costs more (¥3250), although for foreigners the cost can be brought down to ¥2500 each way by purchasing a N'EX Tokyo Round-Trip Ticket.

Budget travelers can use the Keisei Narita Skyaccess - Shinjuku Line, which has one station transfer between Higashi-Nihombashi Station and Bakuroyokoyama Station (5 minute walk between stations and approx. 105 minutes, ¥1470 total). In the evenings, faster Access Tokkyu trains from Narita Airport to Nippori shave 20 minutes off the overall travel time against an extra charge of ¥200. The JR Yokosuka-Sōbu Line also has stations at both Narita terminals.

Limousine buses run frequently from Narita Airport to Shinjuku Station's west exit and to area hotels (approx. 2 hours, ¥3600).

Passengers coming from Haneda Airport can take trains on the Keikyu and Yamanote lines, changing at Shinagawa (45 minutes, ¥590). Limousine buses also run on this route (50 minutes, ¥1230).

By train
Train is the obvious option for arrival, as Shinjuku Station is on the JR 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. There are also terminal stations for the Keio, Odakyu and Seibu Shinjuku private railway lines.

Guinness World Records recognises Shinjuku Station as the busiest railway station in the world: More than 3.8 million passengers pass through each day. If you doubt this, try to board the Marunouchi line towards Tokyo Station at 8:00 on a Monday morning. The station is a sight in itself, effectively forming a giant multi-level warren of department stores, restaurants, commercial buildings, railway facilities and underground shopping malls which radiate out for kilometers under the surrounding area. Getting lost in the station is normal for visitors.

By bus
Bus routes used to stop at various locations around Shinjuku, but most routes, especially highway buses, have been consolidated into the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal, abbreviated SEBT or Busta Shinjuku (バスタ新宿), which opened in 2016 above the JR tracks at Shinjuku Station.

Airport limousine buses from Narita (¥3,100, roughly 100 min.) and Haneda (¥1,200, 50 min) stop at the station and at all major hotels in Shinjuku, but are prone to traffic delays.

See



 * Adjacent to the government buildings is a semi-skyscraper, NS Building, which hides a wonder in its full-height atrium: the largest pendulum clock in the world, Guiness-certified. Also has cafes and fast food outlets on the ground level and some restaurants on the 29th floor.
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).
 * Adjacent to the government buildings is a semi-skyscraper, NS Building, which hides a wonder in its full-height atrium: the largest pendulum clock in the world, Guiness-certified. Also has cafes and fast food outlets on the ground level and some restaurants on the 29th floor.
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).
 * Adjacent to the government buildings is a semi-skyscraper, NS Building, which hides a wonder in its full-height atrium: the largest pendulum clock in the world, Guiness-certified. Also has cafes and fast food outlets on the ground level and some restaurants on the 29th floor.
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).
 * Adjacent to the government buildings is a semi-skyscraper, NS Building, which hides a wonder in its full-height atrium: the largest pendulum clock in the world, Guiness-certified. Also has cafes and fast food outlets on the ground level and some restaurants on the 29th floor.
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).
 * For people-watching, the place to be is the large square in front of the station's Kabukichō entrance, next to the Studio Alta shopping center (scheduled to close in Feb 2025).

Do




Electronics
Major discount camera stores are concentrated on both sides of Shinjuku station, although there is a particularly large cluster just outside the West Exit. The undisputed king Yodobashi has branches on practically every block; note that the branches specialize, so you may have to look for the right branch to find what interests you (digital cameras, video cameras, medium-format photography, etc.). The other major name is Bic camera. This store have been transformed by computers and the Internet, and their computer departments match Akihabara in volume, price, and selection.



Eat
A great way to get by in Tokyo on a budget is to make lunch your main meal. Many restaurants cater to the business lunch crowd and offer an excellent two or three course meal for between ¥800-1300 or lunch buffet for \1000-2000. Going to the same places for dinner would be up to three times more expensive.

Shinjuku has more than 5,000 eateries, the most among the 23 special wards of Tokyo.

Budget

 * The Lumine and Mylord shopping complexes atop the south side of the JR station both have inexpensive restaurant arcades on their upper floors.

Drink


The Kabukichō (歌舞伎町) district, to the northeast of JR Shinjuku station, is Tokyo's most notorious red-light district - although during the daytime you might not even notice, especially if you can't decode the elaborate Japanese codewords on the billboards. At night it's a different story though, as sharkskin-suited junior yakuza gangsters hustle and girls in miniskirts beckon customers amid the adults-only vending machines. Night or day, it's always packed with people, and quite a bit of gangland violence used to take place in the vicinity (though at any rate outsiders are generally not involved).

To the south of Kabukichō is Shinjuku Ni-chome (新宿２丁目), Tokyo's largest gay district.

(ゴールデン街) is the name given to a few narrow alleys in a block on the east edge of Kabukichō. It's packed with tiny aging "hole-in-the-wall" bars and started as a red light district some decades ago; morphing into some sort of a subversive hangout; and finally now into an odd assortment of tiny bars (some up very steep steps.) The irony of the place is that while it has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, many of the bars rely on regulars, so strangers wandering in may receive either a frosty reception, cover charge or both. If the door is open and you get a smile go in, it's an experience not to be had anywhere else. Many of the bars have karaoke and ancient mama-sans, while one has an old man who speaks Spanish and plays flamenco videos on a tiny black and white TV, and who occasionally plays guitar; another has a great collection of jazz music. Some places charge extra for karaoke with coin machines or a surcharge added to the bill while others, such as Bar K, have it available for free. Be aware that commercial photography in some parts of the Golden Gai is prohibited without permission.



On the west side of the Yamanote tracks, Omoide Yokochō (思い出横丁, "Memory Lane") is a small alley filled with yakitori joints. Omoide Yokochō is also sometimes referred to as gokiburi yokochō (cockroach alley) or shomben yokochō (piss alley - no prizes for guessing why).

Once you get beyond Omoide Yokochō into the skyscrapers of West Shinjuku, the nightlife pretty much dies out, with the solitary exception of what is probably Tokyo's best-known bar among foreigners:



Clubs
Oddly, there are few nightclubs left in Shinjuku, perhaps due to the price of real estate.



Ni-chōme
East of Shinjuku station, Ni-chōme is the most popular LGBT+ district in Tokyo with more than 600 bars packed in a few blocks. The gay bars of Ni-chōme (or Nichō for short) tend to be rather strictly segregated by scene (sen, short for senmon, "specialty, area of expertise"), charging higher covers or even disallowing entry to anyone who doesn't fit the bar's desired type. A lot of gay bars are strictly men-only or women-only, while some allow for mixed groups. Bars for gari-sen (twinks) and kuma-sen (bears) are unsurprising, but there are many more categories like fuke-sen (older men) and debu-sen (chubs), though less common. While quite a few of the bars are small ones primarily filled with Japanese regulars, there is certainly no shortage of gai-sen bars that allow or welcome foreigners. Additionally, a lot of Japanese-style gay bars also include a public karaoke.

Splurge


The western side of Shinjuku has a notable concentration of luxury hotels and great views over the city. Most hotels cater for business travellers and their needs.



Stay safe
Beware of touts on the street who are promising free drinks. Do not follow them even if they appear friendly or persistent. They will lure you to bars where you are charged exorbitantly for drinks. Some travellers even reported that those bars placed drugs in their drinks to leave you in vulnerable state while the staff takes your wallet and charge thousands of dollars on your debit and credit cards.

Go next

 * Shibuya is 3 stations south of Shinjuku on the Yamanote Line.
 * Ikebukuro is 3 stations north of Shinjuku on the Yamanote Line.
 * Mitaka is west along the Chuo Line. It is the home of the Ghibli Museum.
 * Hachioji is a suburban city of Tokyo west of Shinjuku along the Keio Line and Chuo Line, with access to Takao-san, a popular mountain for hiking or just escaping the urban sprawl for a day.
 * Hakone is a popular area for onsens and easily accessible by the Odakyu Line.
 * Enoshima