When in Tokyo, Shinjuku is a must-visit neighborhood for any traveler. Shinjuku is exactly what you dream of when imagining a visit to Tokyo. Among the towering skyscrapers covered in Tokyo’s signature neon signs, there is a seemingly endless supply of bars, nightclubs, restaurants and arcades to explore.
During our week in Tokyo, we stayed in the Asakusa neighborhood, so Shinjuku was only a short train ride away. We hopped on the subway and after one transfer and about 20 minutes, we emerged in Shinjuku. However, taking the subway presented us with a difficult decision right off the bat. In Tokyo, the subway lines typically run from about 5:00 am – midnight, so we had to decide whether we would plan a quick night with a midnight return, or stay out until the first train the following day at 5:00 am. Taxi’s are also available, but as a couple of poor backpackers at the end of a 7-month trip, taxing a $30 taxi wasn’t really an option for us. Naturally, we decided to stay out until 5:00 am.
We arrived in Shinjuku around 6:00 pm, planning to grab dinner and drinks before hoping between bars and clubs for the remainder of the night. Earlier that day, we had read about a place called “Piss Alley” that was supposedly packed with authentic izakayas, so we decided to venture there for dinner. It was just a short walk from the main Shinjuku hub, and we were so glad we went.
Piss Alley is basically just a collection of small izakayas piled together in a maze of winding alleyways. When we went, it was incredibly busy, but I think that only added to the allure. Because all of the restaurants are so small (typically seating 8 people or less), it was incredibly hard to find a seat in any of them. Luckily, we spotted some locals entering through a side alley to avoid the crowds at the entrance of the main stretch. We followed them and had a seat in no time.
Once inside, we were seated at the end of the bar. The bar basically made up the entire restaurant, with only a few feet of space behind the chairs to squeeze through while wriggling towards your seat. We drank a couple of Sapporo beers and had an assortment of meat skewers that were grilled in front of us, all while chatting with the other restaurant patrons by combination of broken English and charades. The owner even treated all of us to a magic show while preparing our food.
We spent much longer in Piss Alley than we had originally anticipated, so by the time we left, it was already starting to get late. Luckily, we were stuck in Shinjuku until 5:00 am! After leaving the alley, we made our way towards the main hub of Shinjuku where the bustling nightlife was starting to take shape. We took some time to wander the streets, taking it all in before darting into a store to buy more drinks. I can’t be sure if it’s actually legal to drink while walking around the streets, but everyone else was doing it, so it seemed fine. We enjoyed the busy streets for a short while longer, and then proceeded to duck in and out of numerous bars. The bars in Shinjuku are crazy. Each of them has an elaborate theme or decoration, and we had a great time exploring all of them until it was time for an early morning bowl of ramen.
After finishing our bowls of Ramen, we emerged to the sun rising on the streets of Shinjuku, with only a few other late-nighters remaining. We walked towards the subway, caught the first train at 5:00 am towards Asakusa, transferred to our second line, and then promptly fell asleep in our seats. We were soon awoken by the conductor shaking us awake to explain that we had to get off because we were at the final stop, which was luckily also our stop. We made the final 15 minute walk from the station to our hostel, and then promptly resumed sleeping until the mid-afternoon.
