Wandering around Shinjuku (GXR A16)

Man, is it cold out these days. We even got a lot of snow this week, rare for the Tokyo area, so much in fact that tons of trains were delayed and even crazy me was forced to take a bus instead of my Yamaha to work.

But just because it's cold doesn't mean you can't get out.

So I headed to my old stomping grounds in Shinjuku and took a nice stroll. The picture above is of a small area just to the NW of the station. It only occupies about a single city block's area but it's just packed with yakitori stands, bars, and little izakaya where you can get a nice hot meal shoulder to shoulder with tired salarymen and old retirees, one of the few completely unspoiled night spots in Tokyo.

Walk around enough and you can see a lot of interesting people in the Shinjuku area, which is why I keep coming back.




Head further around to the SW side of the station, and you'll find bus stops that take people all throughout the country and a huge clump of camera stores and basement eateries.




But it can be a bit confusing. Endless rows of shops that all seem kind of the same but not quite make the area a prime spot for losing one's direction. I've been in this area a hundred times but I find myself not quite sure where I am about half the times I visit.

But that's half the fun of course, finding something truly awesome to see or do that was always there but you just never saw it.

OK, today's post is winding down, so I'll finish with one last picture:



This, my friends, is a right wing propaganda van, parked right in front of the station. Gotta love these. The lady on top was reading endlessly from some manifesto about how Japan needs to rearm to defend its territories, and blah blah blah. Tho for the record I didn't hear any specifically racist comments from the speaker, so that was nice for a change.

And I have to admit she was a bit less scary than this creepy guy I saw doing the same thing a few weeks ago. He was I suppose trying to spread the gospel in good Christian missionary style, but 80% of what he was saying was simply shouting to the public how J-pop idols, short skirts, youth fashion, and alcohol were destroying their souls. Not exactly a good way to get people fired up about religion IMO.