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I moved to Japan in 1983, and for the first few years I lived and worked near Shinjuku Station and passed through it every day. I also spent most of my free tim

I moved to Japan in 1983, and for the first few years I lived and worked near Shinjuku Station and passed through it every day. I also spent most of my free time in the Shinjuku area and wandered around exploring a lot. It took a full year before I really knew the area and could find any entrance or tunnel without getting lost. The station has changed and grown a lot since, and acquiring that sense would take even longer today. As it happens, I will be going to Shinjuku later today for the first time in four years to meet an old friend for lunch. I spent some time online yesterday looking at photos and streetview of the area. My friend has been living in the Tokyo area as long as I have and used to go to Shinjuku a lot, too. But he doesn't use a smartphone and we're meeting on the south side of the station, which has changed a lot. So I prepared a four-page PDF with maps and pictures showing where we will meet, and I told my friend to print it out and bring it along. I hope we're able to find each other.

notRobot 3y ago
Let us know how it goes!
- tkgally 3y ago
  Thanks! We found each other without any problem. My friend was a bit miffed that I seemed to think that he would get lost. Otherwise we had a pleasant lunch. Later, I walked through Shinjuku and Kabukicho up to Shin Okubo to see how the city had changed. It was good to see that the Shin Okubo area is still as multiethnic and ungentrified as it was twenty years ago. A couple of backstreet one-person coffee shops I used to frequent were still there, though closed for the New Year's holiday.
lovemenot 3y ago
I might have suggested meeting at the "farm" above the South side of the station. I think it's on the fourth or fifth floor. Of course, theres only one farm in the vicinity and it's small enough that you won't miss each other.
solardev 3y ago
This sounds like the beginning of an awesome indie movie :)
hinkley 3y ago
In ‘96 I was there and popped out one of the little side exits, nearly got lost enough to have to ask for help.
gHA5 3y ago
For your lunch: The Shake Shack there is fantastic!

notRobot 3y ago

Let us know how it goes!

tkgally 3y ago
Thanks! We found each other without any problem. My friend was a bit miffed that I seemed to think that he would get lost. Otherwise we had a pleasant lunch. Later, I walked through Shinjuku and Kabukicho up to Shin Okubo to see how the city had changed. It was good to see that the Shin Okubo area is still as multiethnic and ungentrified as it was twenty years ago. A couple of backstreet one-person coffee shops I used to frequent were still there, though closed for the New Year's holiday.

lovemenot 3y ago

I might have suggested meeting at the "farm" above the South side of the station. I think it's on the fourth or fifth floor. Of course, theres only one farm in the vicinity and it's small enough that you won't miss each other.

solardev 3y ago

This sounds like the beginning of an awesome indie movie :)

hinkley 3y ago

In ‘96 I was there and popped out one of the little side exits, nearly got lost enough to have to ask for help.

gHA5 3y ago

For your lunch: The Shake Shack there is fantastic!