If you love Japan and Tokyo then chances are that you really get a kick out of Shinjuku. And that is because not only is this the capital of the capital of Japan for fun, but also all the weird idiosyncrasies that make the country so special.

And this place has got it all from getting slapped at bars, great restaurants, weird restaurants, pachinko and a whole heap of vice. Therefore a trip here for many can be somewhat overwhelming, hence why I have put together the YPT Ultimate Shinjuku Guide.

Background to Shinjuku Guide

Shinjuku is one of the most famous districts of Tokyo. The station itself is the busiest in the world, a sprawling monster where millions pass through every single day. The west side is home to the skyscrapers and offices, while the east side explodes into neon, entertainment and chaos.

Golden Gai is a tiny pocket of post war bars that survived development, Kabukicho is the red light zone, and the streets are crammed with every type of eatery imaginable. Shinjuku is the Tokyo you see in movies. It is loud, brash, confusing and utterly addictive.

Drinking in Shinjuku Guide

Shinjuku is one of the best places on earth to get drunk. You can go high end cocktail, beer towers with businessmen or dive into places where someone will slap you as part of the entertainment.

Most people end up in Kabukicho, the red light entertainment zone, but you can also squeeze into the micro bars of Golden Gai where history oozes from every one room shack. Do not expect cheap but do expect unique.

Best bars in Shinjuku

1. Muscle Girl Bar – 1 Chome 16 2 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – About 12 USD a drink. Staff are bodybuilders who flex and serve drinks with a smile or sometimes a slap.
2. Albatross – 1 Chome 1 7 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – About 10 USD a drink. Legendary Golden Gai bar filled with mirrors, chandeliers and history.
3. Robot Restaurant Bar – 1 Chome 7 1 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – About 15 USD a drink. Pure neon insanity with robots, dancers and overpriced cocktails.
4. Bar Araku – 1 Chome 1 7 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – About 8 USD a drink. Tiny Golden Gai hideaway with good whiskey and locals who actually talk to you.
5. Kenzo’s Bar – 1 Chome 4 9 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – About 9 USD a drink. Small spot in Kabukicho with a mix of expats and Japanese, good place to start the night.

Eating in Shinjuku Guide

Food in Shinjuku is as wild as its bars. You can sit down to wagyu beef, slurp ramen with drunk students, or head to restaurants where the theme is more important than the menu. The area around the station is crammed with izakaya, yakitori stalls and fast food joints. Omoide Yokocho, also called Piss Alley, is famous for smoky yakitori and cold beers.

Five must try restaurants in Shinjuku

1. Ichiran Ramen – 1 Chome 22 7 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – Bowls from 9 USD. Famous for solo ramen booths and tonkotsu broth.
2. Torikizoku – 3 Chome 20 5 Shinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – Skewers from 3 USD. Cheap and cheerful yakitori chain, perfect for a beer and a feed.
3. Nabezo Shinjuku 3 Chome – 3 Chome 30 11 Shinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – Sets from 20 USD. All you can eat shabu shabu hotpot with good meat and endless sides.
4. Zauo Shinjuku – 3 Chome 2 9 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – Mains from 25 USD. Restaurant where you catch your own fish and have it cooked.
5. Omoide Yokocho Yakitori Alley – 1 Chome Nishishinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – Skewers from 2 USD. Not one restaurant but a strip of smoky stalls that every visitor should hit.

Sleeping in Shinjuku Guide

Shinjuku is not the cheapest place in Tokyo to stay but it does have something for every budget. You can crash in a capsule, live it up in a skyscraper hotel, or go for the mid range business hotels that cover the basics.

Five hotels in Shinjuku

1. Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado – 4 Chome 2 10 Shinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – From 35 USD. Capsule hotel with sauna, clean pods and male only floors.
2. Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku – 2 Chome 3 1 Yoyogi Shibuya Tokyo – From 110 USD. Popular business hotel just south of the station, reliable and central.
3. Shinjuku Granbell Hotel – 2 Chome 14 5 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – From 130 USD. Trendy mid range option with rooftop bar in the heart of Kabukicho.
4. Park Hyatt Tokyo – 3 Chome 7 1 2 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo – From 600 USD. The Lost in Translation hotel, luxury with incredible views.
5. APA Hotel Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower – 1 Chome 20 2 Kabukicho Shinjuku Tokyo – From 90 USD. Cheapish business hotel in Kabukicho, tiny rooms but great location.

Vice in Shinjuku Guide

Shinjuku has long been the beating heart of Tokyo vice. Kabukicho is the red light district where touts pull you into overpriced bars, girls line the streets and neon promises everything. The sex industry in Japan is technically restricted but in reality it thrives in a thousand different forms. You will see girls on the street working as streetwalkers. You will find love hotels with themed rooms that charge by the hour. You can step into host clubs and pay young men to drink with you or visit hostess clubs where it is the reverse.

Street level action can be overwhelming. Some bars are tourist traps where you will be fleeced for watered down whiskey at 100 USD a glass. Others are safe and fun. The golden rule is know where you are going or go with someone who does.

There are also seaplanes, which is the slang for the street hustlers offering every kind of scam from massage parlors to fake strip clubs. If you are not careful you can be walked to an ATM and cleaned out. This is not paranoia, it happens every single night.

On the softer side of vice are the themed cafes. You can go to maid cafes, butler cafes, animal cafes and every niche fetish in between. Tokyo loves to commercialize fantasy and nowhere is it more blatant than Kabukicho.

And then there is pachinko. The endless slot like game that is neither gambling nor not gambling. Pachinko parlors blast noise and cigarette smoke from every corner of Shinjuku. You will not understand the rules but you will understand that it is addictive and that people blow whole paychecks here.

And that is why you need to visit Shinjuku

And it is for this myriad of reasons that we feel you should not just visit Shinjuku, but go jump in head first to the sheer madness of the place. Because if you want to truly get Japan, then there is no better place to start.

Check out Japan with Young Pioneer Tours, on all of our Japan Tours, all of which can take in Shinjuku.

About Post Author

Gareth Johnson

Gareth Johnson is the founder of Young Pioneer Tours and has visited over 180+ countries. His passion is opening obscure destinations to tourism and sharing his experience of street food.

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