Shinjuku

Shinjuku is the heart of present day Tokyo. Two million people a day pass through Shinjuku station, making it one of the busiest train station in the world. Shinjuku is divided into two areas by the station itself. On the west side, called Nishi-Shinjuku, is the central Government and business district, identifiable by the large skyscrapers. On the east, called Higashi-Shinjuku, is by far the liveliest part of Shinjuku, the entertainment district.

Shinjuku is where all the celebrated virtues of Japanese society - it's safety and order, its grace and beauty, its cleanliness and civility - begin to blur. This area has been at the fringes of respectability for centuries. When Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his capital, Shinjuku as at the junction of two important arteries leading into the city from the west. It became a thriving post station, where travelers would rest and refresh themselves for the last leg of their journey. The appeal of this suburban pit stop was its "teahouses," where the waitresses dispensed a good bit more than sympathy with the tea.

When the Tokugawa dynasty collapsed in 1686, a 16-year-old emperor Meiji moved his capital to Edo, renaming it Tokyo, and modern Shinjuku became the railhead connecting it to Japan's western provinces. As the hangout for artists, writers, and students, it remained on the fringes of respectability; in the 1930's Shinjuku was Tokyo's bohemian quarter. The area was virtually leveled during the firebombings of 1945. By the 1970s property values in Shinjuku were the nation's highest, outstripping even those of Ginza. Three subways and seven railway lines converge here.

Nishi-Shinjuku (The West Side)

After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Nishi-Shinjuku was virtually the only part of Tokyo left standing; the whims of nature had given this one small area a gift of better bedrock. That priceless geological stability remained largely unexploited until the late 1960s, when technological advances in engineering gave architects the freedom to soar. Some 20 skyscrapers have been built here since then, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Complex, and Nishi-Shinjuku has become Tokyo's 21st-century administrative center.

Higashi-Shinjuku (The East Side)

During the day, Higashi-Shinjuku is a shoppers paradise. This area is filled with retail stores, vertical malls (tall buildings/skyscapers where each floor is a different department), and discount shops of every description imaginable. By night, this area is equally amazing with its incredible number of bars, dance and hostess clubs, restuarants, and pachinko palors. Just about anything that amuses, arouses, alters, or intoxicates is for sale in Higashi-Shinjuku, if you know where to look. Public drunkiness and petty theft are not unusual here. Many of the establishments are proported to be run by the infamous Yakusa. Not surprisingly, Higashi-Shinjuku has the city's largest, and busiest, police substation.

When you exit Shinjuku station's East exit, into Higashi-Shinjuku, you can't miss the huge video screen that marks the Studio Alta, under which is the largest subterranean plaza in all of Tokyo. A little further on, you can find the Kinokuniya Bookstore whose 6th floor is devoted to foreign language books, including some 40,000 english titles alone. It was here that I discovered a small smoke shop that carried actual Havana Cigars (illegal in the USA). I bought a wonderful Cuban Partagas #4 (I usually buy the Dominician Republic version).

Out of place in all this hustle and bustle, is Higashi-Shinjuku's Hanazono Jinja Shrine. Constructed in the early Edo Period, Hanazono is not among Tokyo's most imposing shrines, but it does have one of the longest histories. Hanazono is nestled so close to Tokyo's most infamous red-light district (Kabukicho) that it's clientele can make for some interesting people-watching (one of my favorite past-times). Chief among the deities enshrined here is Yamatotakeru-no-Mikoto, a lengendary hero whose exploits are recounted in the earliest Japanese mythologies. This deity was suppose to be a 4th century imperial prince. His fame rests on the conquest of aboriginal tribes, which he did at the bidding of the Yamato Court. According to legend, when he died, his soul took the form of a swam and flew away. Prayers offered at Hanazono are believed to bring prosperity in business, both legitimate and otherwise.

One of the more interesting aspects of Higashi-Shinjuku is the Kabukicho area. This famous red-light district is pretty much off limits to foreigners, though signal gaijin males (yep, that would include me) are likely to be approached by offers to visit over-priced strip clubs.

Kabukicho is considered to be one of the most imaginative red-lights areas in the world, with "soaplands" (massage palours), love hotels (with little privacy in Japan, this is were young couples often go), "no-pants" coffee shops (it's the waitresses who go without, not the customers), peep shows, so-called pink cabarets ("pink" is the Japanese equivalent of "blue" in the USA), prono-video booths and strip shows that involve audience participation. Walking the neon signed streets, crowded with drunken businessmen, is much like the broadway area of San Francisco. One of more recent phenomenon of this area is the introduction of Tere Kure clubs. In these types of clubs, Japanese men pay an hourly fee for a room, a telephone, and a list of girl's telephone numbers. If the two like the sound of each other, they can then make a date to meet.

Finally, just on the edge of Kabukicho, is a large square which contains the enormous Koma Theatre. The Koma started out its life as a movie theatre, but quickly switched to stage performances. It still hosts performances of a more mainstream variety. The square facing the Koma is ringed by cinemas and is also a popular place to spot celebrities.

Links of interest:

The role of Shinto in a Metropolitan Society. - Shinto and the future
Keio Plaza Inter-Continental, Tokyo
The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923
History of Cuban Cigars