Shinjuku Street Photos [ Panasonic GX7 ]

Right outside Shinjuku Station a street musician puts on an impromptu performance (from the board it looks like her name is Candy Therapy - kinda cool).

The Shinjuku area has always been one of my favorite places to go in Japan. The other day I had a chance to take a loop of the station, something I'd never actually done, and here are some of the photos of people and the streets I got while I was there.




Yes, there are a lot of cool little shops all over the area, like this one here, Yamamoto Coffee. Some seem new and fashionable while others very old and showa. This one is kind of a mix of both.




Walking up the main street towards the east exit, you run into a mass of lights and buildings on your right. Yes, it's the entrance to Kabukicho, the most infamous entertainment district in Tokyo.




OK, so Kabukicho itself isn't really that dangerous or depraved - at least not the first block or so. If you want to see really crazy shit you need to go back at least 50 feet deeper.




Hmm, so do they have pork on the menu?




My first night in Japan was spent right in this area - first we had a huge meeting, then I went with some guys I'd met on the flight over to a Chinese place, and after that ended up wandering the area for a few hours, jet lagged and lost. But it was a great night, one that I'll never forget.




I've read so many things about Shinjuku and seen a lot more. I could write for pages about the place. It used to be a real youth party center. By the time I first arrived in Japan it was of course already going down the tubes. Outside of the main shopping arcades and bazars you couldn't find so many people wandering around except drunks and much more scary individuals you wouldn't want to mess with.

Now, however, Shinjuku has taken a sharp turn back towards normalcy (at least near the station anyway), and it's once again busy with throngs of young adults, couples and drunk salarymen. So it sort of feels like a million other hang outs places in Japan.

But walk back just a step or two and you're back in old Shinjuku. Just be careful who you bump into or what you step in.

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All of these pictures were taken with my Panasonic GX7 micro four thirds camera, using the 20mm F1.7 and 14mm F2.5 lenses. For more pics, click on any of the images above or go to my Flickr Photostream. Or for more neat Shinjuku street photography, check out my other posts: A Day's Journey (day time pics taken with my GX7), Shinjuku Side Streets (photos I took with my GXR).