Shinjuku - Tokyo

Shinjuku District of Tokyo is the location of our hotel, Hilton (free with points). The district is eclipsed by the ridiculously humongous Shinjuku Rail Station. SRS is the largest of 6 major (Tokyo, Ueno, Yokohama, Shibuya, Ikebukuro) rail stations in the Tokyo expanse. Wikipedia ranks SRS as having the most travelers per day - in the world - with about a billion, or so people passing through each year.

It is easily twice the size of Grand Central Terminal and so if you visit, you are better to figure out how to walk through it (not easy with 5 levels, and train loads of people with luggage) than to walk around it (impossible with 400+ bus lines).

Around SRS is mega shopping, small and large. Jane and I went up 6 escalators to an entire floor of just head phones and ear buds. Off the South Gate (or is it the North?) are super cool, really buzzing bar spots hidden beneath Times Square type lights. Here you can stroll literally a hundred old alleys, between the dizzying blocks, with micro-bars that are at capacity with 8 to 10 people. They are cubby holes of Sake (a post to come), Asahi, Absinthe, Japanese Whiskey and American jazz and blues.

The ceilings are low, the seats tight. The smoke heavy. And each entrepreneur offering a bowl of rice chips, a hot plate cup of soup, or small grill food (always free) and with amazing décor by devoted patrons. 

In Shinjuku and it’s Golden Gai neighborhood (see Robot Show) there are hundreds of these cubbies. Their internals are not obvious from the dark alley. Before we enter, Jane and I measure our spirit for adventure and then our thirst. There are so many cozy, intimate, bars to choose from where, including the bartender, 9 are a crowd. It’s difficult and a bit scary to decide. Public bathrooms are in the streets and safe, but late at night not so clean. I can’t describe the experience and adventure we shared with people from the world over who are looking for a truly unique night out.

We knew we couldn’t scratch the surface of Tokyo. If we come back, we would just concentrate on Shinjuku.