First Night Out in Shinjuku (6/5 - 6/6)

Shinjuku, in contrast to the more famous Harajuku or Shibuya, is known as one of Tokyo's business districts. And while people do come there mainly for work, it also houses a red light district for after-hours enjoyment. Note, though, that "red light district" doesn't signify exactly the same thing in Shinjuku as it does in American cities. It's not hard to find adult entertainment in Shinjuku's red light district, but it also houses things like karaoke bars, night clubs, and late-night noodle shops.

That nuance was lost on me as a teenager, so I mostly steered clear of the area back in 2009. This time around, Sarah and I wanted to explore its glowing neon streets in the dead of night. As luck would have it, the timing suited us perfectly. We woke up from what would be a full night's sleep in the US at ~10:00 pm Tokyo time. Perfect for a night out in the red light district. Well-rested after our slumber (the jet lag would come out swinging a few days later), we excitedly made our way across Shinjuku to a technicolor city-within-a-city.

At the entrance stood a Don Quijote. This was the closest I'd ever gotten to Shinjuku's night life in 2009, and while Don Quijote wasn't exactly a part of the red light district, it may as well have been. I clearly remember walking through it with my family and stumbling, together, upon the sex toy aisle. There was no clear demarcation, so right behind us were the displays of electronic devices that seemed more representative of what we'd seen so far. We were amused by the juxtaposition, and Don Quijote lives on in our memories as a typically maximal Japanese shopping experience.

In 2017, Don Quijote was just one among many places on our list. Sarah had never been in one, but we decided to come back and check it out later. Right now we wanted to get pictures and videos of the incomparable red light district. Many don't realize it, but a lot of the most eye-grabbing photos/videos from Japan come from Shinjuku's red light district. In fact, there used to be a ramen restaurant up the street in Baltimore that had a giant print of a photograph from the Shinjuku red light district. It's very visually appealing, even if Americans don't know about the seedier side. We knew we wanted it to be a major presence in our memories of Shinjuku.

But for all the allure of Shinjuku's red light district, I also wanted to go right to the heart of Tokyo. I wanted to get off at Tokyo Station and see Tokyo City from the center. The dream had long obsessed me as a teenager, but I never worked up the confidence to make the trip myself. Maybe because I would've had to go alone, and I lacked the bravado to do so back then. But this time, with Sarah by my side, I was ready. So we shuttled along by train to Tokyo Station, ready for an even higher dose of future shock than we'd found in Shinjuku.

Upon arriving, I was unsure of where to venture. What does one do in the center of Tokyo? I hadn't though to check ahead of time. We exited the Station and looked around. Business buildings towered over us just as they had in Shinjuku, but this place was totally new to both of us. We decided to walk straight outward from the Station, assuming we'd soon happen upon a similarly thriving netherworld. Sarah began to check her Yelp app to see what places might be open for us to get a late dinner. Since we'd slept in, we still hadn't eaten since leaving our AirBnb. Food was starting to reassert itself in our minds.

Sarah had strange news. It seemed almost all the restaurants nearby were closing, and we were left with only a few to choose from. I was confused, but it corroborated something I was noticing all around me...where were all the people? Where were all the colorful signs? The area was far sleepier than I'd expected. Here I thought we would be catching the first wave of a vibrant night life. But the black sky was seeping into the streets beneath, and we were among the few walking Tokyo's empty streets.

How could this be what the liveliest, most populous city on Earth looked like at midnight? Gradually, Sarah and I pieced it together. This area was more like the rest of Shinjuku, a nondescript place for commuters to do their day jobs. Like Manhattan in New York, as opposed to Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Bushwick or Times Square. I began to feel rather sheepish about my misconception. If only I'd taken some time to plot out an itinerary beforehand. However, we were awake enough to feel up for more exploration. If we backtracked to Shinjuku, at least we could salvage our night with the red light district's offerings.

So, that's what we did! After a half hour or so on the train, we got off at Shinjuku and made our way back to the red light district. Luckily, it was only a few blocks away from Shinjuku Station's South Entrance, which by now we'd entered and exited several times. Back in familiar territory, we picked a noodle shop at random for our very belated dinner. And how lucky we were. We didn't know it at the time, but Tokyo Tonkotsu Noodles was going to serve us the absolute best ramen we'd have on our entire trip. Ordering by electronic interface, we grabbed our tickets and sat down near the kitchen. Mine came with buttery broth, perfectly-cooked noodles, and several side ingredients (seaweed, corn, egg). Sarah and I also ordered two beers to go with our meal. We picked Asahi by chance, and perhaps because it accompanied our spectacular ramen dishes, this also became our favorite beer of the trip.

When I think back to our time in Shinjuku, this is one of the best memories. Undeterred by our anticlimactic arrival at Tokyo Station, huddled up together in front of ramen and beer, alone together at 1:00 in the morning in my favorite city on Earth.