Tokyo district
The place
Shinjuku Station is the busiest in the world by passenger numbers, and the district splits around it. West is the skyscraper quarter, with the twin-towered Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and its free observatories. East is Kabukicho and the post-war alleys — Omoide Yokocho by the tracks and Golden Gai’s six lanes of tiny bars — which are the reason most people come at night. South-east is Shinjuku Gyoen, a national garden with an entry fee, opening hours and some of Tokyo’s longest cherry season.
The alleys need a light touch. Many bars post no-photo signs, the lanes are barely two people wide, and a camera pointed into a doorway is unwelcome. We shoot the passages from the ends, keep each stop to a few minutes, and buy a drink where we linger. In Kabukicho we keep the frame on you and the signage, not on the touts or hosts working the street.
Before you go
Seasonal calendar
Typical peak windows. They move by a week or more from year to year; we check the forecast when you book.
There are only a few rental shops in Shinjuku. For a kimono session in Shinjuku Gyoen you dress in Asakusa and come over on the Marunouchi or Toei lines (about 30 minutes); a dresser at your hotel can be quoted separately. Kimono in Golden Gai is possible but awkward on the narrow stairs and wet lanes.
In Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai, respect no-photo signs, do not shoot through doorways or photograph customers, and keep the lane clear. Some Golden Gai bars charge a seating fee. Shinjuku Gyoen bans alcohol and play equipment, and requires a permit for commercial shoots and tripods. In Kabukicho, decline touts politely and keep moving.
Shinjuku Station is served by the JR Yamanote, Chuo and Saikyo lines, the Marunouchi, Shinjuku and Oedo subway lines, and the Odakyu and Keio railways. Tokyo Station is 15 minutes by the Chuo Rapid line; Shinjuku Gyoen’s Shinjuku Gate is a 10-minute walk from the south-east exit, or one stop to Shinjuku-gyoemmae on the Marunouchi line.
The spots
Here is where to shoot in Shinjuku, with the hours that work and the venue rules.
A post-war maze of yakitori counters squeezed against the tracks north-west of the station. Charcoal smoke catches the red lanterns, which is the whole picture; we shoot along the lane from its ends with a fast lens.
Light through the year
Dark by five; the smoke hangs in cold air and glows under the lanterns.
Light lingers until after seven and the lanes are hot; ten minutes here is enough.
Around two hundred tiny bars across six parallel lanes, each two storeys high and a few metres wide. The lanes beside Hanazono Shrine are the ones where photographs are tolerated; we keep it brief and respect any sign.
Fifty-eight hectares combining a formal French garden, an English lawn and a Japanese landscape garden with a pond and teahouses. The skyline of the Docomo Tower rising behind the Japanese garden is the Tokyo frame people look for.
Light through the year
The weeping and Somei-yoshino cherries peak first, the yaezakura on the English lawn two weeks later; arrive at nine.
Maples around the Japanese garden pond and the plane-tree avenue in the French garden turn together.
The twin towers designed by Kenzo Tange. Upstairs, west-facing windows show Mt Fuji on clear winter afternoons; downstairs, the east façade carries a large projection-mapping show on most evenings.
Central Road runs from the red Kabukicho gate to the Toho building, where a life-sized Godzilla head looks over the street from the eighth floor. It is the neon, maximal Shinjuku frame, best kept short.
District by district
Shoots here
These are booked from their service page; the photographer meets you here at the same price.
Read before you book
No travel charge
These come under the Shinjuku rate: the photographer travels out at no extra charge, and the shoot is priced exactly as it would be in Shinjuku itself.
Before you book
In the lanes, briefly and where no sign says otherwise; inside bars, only with the owner’s permission. We go before the bars fill, around half past five, and never photograph customers.
Yes, and its early and late varieties make it forgiving if the main bloom passes. Alcohol is banned, tickets may need booking online in peak weeks, and a wedding-style shoot needs a garden permit, which we apply for when you book.
On clear days between November and February, from the Metropolitan Government observatory in the late afternoon. In summer it is almost always hidden by haze.
Next step
We reply within 2 hours, 9:00–21:00 Japan time. No deposit required to enquire.
