Adventurasia Community

West Shinjuku can be regarded as downtown Tokyo with its impressive skyscraper district. Nestled outside the west gate of Shinjuku station are a number of distinctly modern buildings. These buildings are unique in their style as well as in their size. One of the most famous group of buildings are those that make up the Tokyo Metropolitan office building, home to the offices of the Tokyo City government and outspoken Mayor Ishihara. The main building briefly held the title as the tallest building in Japan before being usurped by the Yokohama Landmark Tower. This marvellous example of modern architectural beauty was designed by Kenzo Tange. There is a spectacular cost-free view of Shinjuku and west Tokyo available on the 45th floor.

This area also boasts the Shinjuku NS Building, which is also an interesting piece of modern architecture. The showpiece of this structure is its 1600 square meter sun lit atrium featuring a glass roof. The atrium also features a massive 29 meter pendulum clock, which is listed as the largest clock in the world in the Guinness Book of Records. And high above the atrium, at 110 meters is a sky bridge.

If you keep going past the skyscraper district west you will run into one Shinjuku’s two major parks, Chuo Koen(Central Park). It is much smaller than its New York namesake, but provides a nice respite from the towering monstrosities nearby. Chuo koen is not alone among Tokyo parks for its popularity as a shelter for the homeless. Walking along the borders of the park you can see several blue tarps, which represent the makeshift homes that many men have used since the bubble burst more than ten years ago.

If you go south on the west side you will find a commercial area that has a variety of office buildings, shops, restaurants, English conversation schools, and other businesses. However, if you wander behind the pachinko parlors and multi-storied buildings across from Shinjuku station you will find some unusual places, like the vintage brick built yakitori restaurant Boroga, named after the Volga river in Russia, that has survived the modernization of Shinjuku. At this restaurant, you can sample yakitori(traditional roasted chicken skewers) with nihonshu, Japanese traditional rice wine. The building has stood in the same place for over 40 years and up until 6 years ago it was run by Takashima Shigeru now it is being run by his son Shuichi. Boroga has seen Shinjuku rise up from the post war boom that resulted in the concrete jungle that we now know as Shinjuku, perhaps the most modern part of Tokyo.

This area of West Shinjuku has become famous for speciality record and CD shops(imports and bootlegs), in particular. There are a variety of stores that specialize mostly in alternative records and CDs, however, everything from reggae to progressive rock can be found. For example, if Reggae and Caribbean music is your style, it can be found at Dub Records. There are literally dozens of different record shops. Tiger Beat Records, has a tie-in with Shinjuku Loft and the Shimo Shelter, two famous live punk rock venues. Then there’s Yoshiwara Kunio’s shop, Barn Homes records, which stocks punk, rockabilly, power pop, surf, and garage music, which has been around for 17 years. So Yoshiwara has seen the area develop over time. He says that it wasn’t necessarily a record haven until about ten years ago. In addition, Yoshiwara runs an independent record label, Barn Homes Records, which has just released a Ramonesque punk rock record by a Japanese band called The Mach Pelicans. He says that he has been really busy recently, since there’s only one other employee besides himself.

If you continue moving west you will find he second of the two major parks in Shinjuku, Shinjuku Gyoen, which was given to Japan by the Imperial Family. Perhaps, the fact that it is only open from 9 till 4 and charges an admission fee of 200 yen to visit keeps out the homeless that used other Tokyo Parks for living spaces. Shinjuku Gyoen is particularly popular in the spring during hanami, the flower viewing season. However, it is also popular during the fall when the chrysanthemums are in full bloom. There are spectacular views of the high rises behind the trees.

Crossing the tracks takes you to the east side of Shinjuku station, where Tokyo’s most infamous red light district can be found: Kabuki-cho. Shinjuku has a rich history involving booze and sex. The black market flourished during the Occupation under crime lord Ozu Kinosuke. He built a series of speakeasies in the area know as Harmonica Yokocho(Harmonica Alley), which didn’t survive Shinjuku’s modernization through the years. Just east of Kabuki-cho is a holdover from the past that did survive, the Goruden Gai, Golden Town, drinking district. It is a small area mostly made up of two story cement and wood houses separated by narrow alleyways. Apparently, the upper floors used to be where transactions with the working girls were completed, but now they usually house another bar. Most Golden Gai bars are owned by some independent mama-sans instead of the Yakuza or Chinese Triads like in Kabuki-cho. And another enterprising individual, Tanaka Komimasa, was the first to capitalize on the mizu shobai(water trade) with strip tease shows in this area. These are two of the major attractions available in Kabuki-cho. Some of the more illicit business include soap lands(massage parlors), love hotels, peep shows, hostess bars, fetish clubs, brothels, strip clubs, and porno video booths. The streets are crowded with girls vying with male touts to get customers into their respective establishments.

However, legitimate business establishments operate side by side with many of the proprietors that cater to a wide array of sexual fetishes. For example, in the area near Koma Theater there are several movie theaters, dance clubs, and theme restaurants. Two of the better known Tokyo clubs in this area are the Liquid Room, which hosts some of Tokyo’s hottest electronica events, and Club Code, another elite night spot popular among the trendy club goers. There are several other straight amusement establishments like batting cages, pool halls, video game centers, and pachinko parlors.

Tokyo being a modern and sophisticated place is not without a pleasure area for its gay population. Ni chome, the unofficial gay district of Tokyo, is located near the raucous Kabuki-cho. It has been said that when prostitution was outlawed in 1957, the gay brotherhood move and in set up shop in the area. There are reportedly over 300 gay drinking establishments in the area today. Furthermore, there are a variety of mizu shobai establishments like host bars in the area as well.