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The beautiful photo of Minami-Shinjuku above is courtesy of Tsutomu Kuriyama from the Panorama Tokyo Review.

Go to the photo gallery for Shinjuku Station East.

Shinjuku is the largest and busiest station in the world.  It handles in the range of 1-2million people every day, going in and out of it's ticket gates.  It is also an area of total contrasts.  I had heard friends talk about this station even before I went to Tokyo.  They all said it was a horrible, chaotic place, that you can never escape from.  That just seemed to make me more excited to see it in person.  The East side especially is just one enormous adventure spot with everything from hundreds of sex clubs, and love hotels, to classy restaurants and top rate shopping.

This page is split into west and east sides because the station is so big.  This page is the east side and the other page is the west side.

The east side of the gigantic Shinjuku Station is the lively entertainment center.  I have never seen anything like it before.  There are supposedly over 500 bars and drinking establishments in this area alone.  It is constantly crowded and filled with every kind of people, from young teens, to travelers, to business men, to ordinary shoppers.  Not to say that other areas don't have a wide range of people, but I think Shinjuku has the most visible wide range of people.  it is also a shoppers paradise or worst nightmare.  The streets are unorganized and confusing (and that's outside the station!) and some shops are small enough to go unnoticed.  The East side is the most famous place in all of Japan for night life.  There is more neon and loud music than any other area in Tokyo and the country.  If and only if you have money, this place can be a blast.  But every bit of fun comes with a price tag, especially here.

Taken from  Takashimaya Times Square, looking towards West Shinjuku.

East Shinjuku is a great place to buy anything.  The Station is so big, it is it's own city, with multi-level mazes of stores and train platforms.  In the picture to the left is an area I used to go to all the time.  There is a Starbucks Coffee, and the biggest book store in Tokyo, Kinokunia.  At night many couples line the area next to Takashimaya on the benches there, and across the walkway that crosses the train tracks (straight ahead in the picture).

South East exit of Shinjuku Station.  "The Gap" "Tower records" and "Lumine" etc.

The South East exit of the station is a good place to come out to go to most of the big stores and departments stores in the station.  To get there from the JR platforms just remember to go up stairs and to the left, NOT down.  Down will take you to the East exit and Kabuki-cho.

From the South exit (reached by going up the stairs and straight ahead) you can go to Lumine Department store, the subway exits and South West Shinjuku Station for the electronics district.  The electronics district in West Shinjuku rivals that of Akihabara, but it's much smaller.  Personally I think you'll find better prices here though.

Copyright ©1999 3DeeArts.  All photos property of 3DeeArts Tokyo Virtual Tour.
Copy or re-use in any way is prohibited.  Background photo by Tsutomu Kuriyama ©1999.
Main text by 3DeeArts ©1999/2000.  Additional text by Donald Richie from
Introducing Tokyo ©1987 Kodansha International Ltd.