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-   -   Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo. (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/keio-plaza-hotel-tokyo-730630/)

Marko Aug 21st, 2007 04:14 AM

Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo.
 
After much mucking around, we have booked this place for 4 nights in January on our way to Canada.

Please folks overwhelm me with your thoughts on things to do, places to eat and any obscure stuff to see !! ;)

mrwunrfl Aug 21st, 2007 11:45 AM

Go to the January sumo tournament in Tokyo. Probably will be January 6-20, 2008.

hawaiiantraveler Aug 22nd, 2007 09:12 AM

Let's see....when you get out of the hotel elevator turn left away from the front desk and walk across the lobby and down the escalator one floor and out the door in the direction of the Post Office across the street.

Walk into the PO and get your daily supply of yen out of the atm and head out the opposite door that you came in. You will now be in the middle of a myriad of restaurants, sushi bars,electronics stores, pachinko parlors and such. This is my favorite area in Shinjuku. the total area is about 4 blocks long by three or four blocks wide. I love the 295 Ramen Shop for a cheap lunch and for dinner we like the Restaurant Le Coupe Chou
1-15-7 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku-ku Tokyo
Tel (03)3348-1610.

You can walk to Shinjuku station and shop at the Odyaku store, Keio store the Isetan store, Mitsukoshi and Times Square around the corner. The station is huge and has more places to eat there than you can count. I am at work now so I don't have all my files here but here is some info on the area

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3011.html

http://www.tokyoessentials.com/shinjuku.html

Aloha!

Marko Aug 22nd, 2007 04:23 PM

HT, thats great thank you !!!!

Haruna Aug 22nd, 2007 05:33 PM

I'll assume you mean things to do around Shinjuku.

-Tokyo Metropolitan Gov't Observatory Level (right across the street from the Keio Plaza)
-Takashimaya Times Square for shopping
-Subnade underground shopping arcade
-Hanazono-jinja
-Kabukicho (err, maybe not..)
-Japan Sword Museum
-Studio ALTA
-Yodobashi Camera, Sakuraya, BiC Camera
-Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Eating? The top floors of Takashimaya Times Square has places to eat. All of the underground shopping areas, Shinjuku Station. As HT says, lots of good places in the Nishi-Shinjuku area around Yodobashi Camera.

kuranosuke Aug 22nd, 2007 06:15 PM

haruna, tsk tsk tsk, kabuki-cho??lol.

Marko Aug 23rd, 2007 02:21 AM

go on fill me in....:)

hawaiiantraveler Aug 23rd, 2007 09:26 AM

Marko,

kabuki cho is a red light district in Tokyo......very tame imho for being a red light district, not that I frequent many, lol

Aloha!

kappa Aug 23rd, 2007 02:32 PM

Kabuki-cho, where they once planned to build a Kabuki theater. Hence the name but the project never realized.

Haruna Aug 23rd, 2007 07:28 PM

Marko, you did say "obscure stuff"! But yes, HT and kappa are correct about Kabuki-cho and it is very tame. I'm pretty sure that at some point when you are walking on Yasukuni-dori and wonder what that bright lighted gate near the Don Quioxote store with the guys in the white shirts and bows hanging around is all about, well, you'll now know.

If you're looking for the unusual elsewhere in the city, there's the Meguro Parasite Museum. Quirky, but a very serious and educational museum.

Mara Aug 23rd, 2007 07:40 PM

Haruna, Are you familiar with the Toyoko Inn on Kabuki Cho as well? Do you think that's okay for a single woman - it will be only two nights before I go back to NYC. Thanks.....

Marko Aug 23rd, 2007 08:13 PM

Haruna, we love the quirky stuff !!!

mrwunrfl Aug 23rd, 2007 08:25 PM

Kabukicho is certainly safe enough for a professional woman.

hawaiiantraveler Aug 23rd, 2007 09:13 PM

lol, mrwunrfl

kuranosuke Aug 23rd, 2007 09:48 PM

ok bill, kinda slow tonite. lol. ht is usually very quick.

but, imo, i don't consider kabuki cho tame or lame. it is shocking, absolutely shocking, probably second to the combat zone in boston when i first went there. :-)


kappa Aug 24th, 2007 12:15 AM

Mara, last March I stayed at Toyoko Inn Kabuki-cho for 1 night. Unless there are more than one of the same hotel chain in the same area, I think that's the one. Hotel itself was very clean, with 2 or 3 free PC at the lobby for internet access. My single room typically small. Complementary breakfast was simple, onigiri rice balls, soup, tea, that's about it I think. Guests I saw there were mostly Asian (Japanese and non Japanese) but I saw a group of English speaking youth (American?) checking out in the morning. Behind the elevator hall, there was even laundry machines for guests' use. I even got a free new pair of socks at check-in. My impression overall was good.

I'd say it's not really in the red-light area. It is located , coming from Shinjuku Station, PAST the red light area but still close to it, in the middle of Korean town. That's an area I never visited before so it was interesting. Many Korean restaurants in the area naturally and some Korean supermarkets. Also there was a large 1 story (perhaps 2 floors? I did not notice) Don Quioxote store (Not the one Haruna mentioned above, that one is tiny but with 5 floors, closer to Shinjuku Station) on the main street (Shokuan Doori) near the hotel that was open still around midnight. I walked in and had a look. It really looked a part of Korean business. I noticed more Korean staff and perhaps even clientele than Japanese there.

Probably it's not a typically suitable area for a solo – female – foreigne traveller. There are "better" areas for such but Toyoko-Inn is hard to beat price-quality wise.

In order to avoid the sleazy part of Kabuki-cho, from the main area of Shinjuku (Shinjuku Station), walk along the Seibu Line starting at Shinjuku Prince Hotel for a few minutes then turn right to a large Shokuan-Doori Street.

I rather agree with Kuranosuke. At least the "sleazy" part of Kabuki-cho is more than tame. When we mention Kabuki-cho, we usually think about that part. Fortunately Kabuki-cho is not only that.

Mara Aug 24th, 2007 03:05 AM

Thanks everyone for your comments and opinions ;-)

Haruna Aug 24th, 2007 04:17 PM

Hi Mara, I've not stayed at the Toyoko Inn in Kabuki-cho myself but I know people who have. It's one of the newer Toyoko Inns so it's still fairly clean. BUT basically repeating everything that Kappa said including how to avoid Kabuki-cho if you choose to stay there. The danger for a solo foreign woman walking through Kabuki-cho is that the bow tied street toughs might aggressively hassle you trying to recruit you for hostess bars (although you can get this treatment in Shibuya too at the Hachiko Statue) so best to avoid it period.

I know we are having some fun with Kabuki-cho, but yes as kuranosuke and kappa say there are shocking aspects to it and it is a dangerous organized crime infested area. The quirky thing is that next to some of the sleazy establishments there will be a McDonalds. Shinjuku began life as a waypoint town on the way to Edo, and of which sprung up the obligatory places of sin. Today, Shinjuku as vibrant as it is, is still surrounded by areas you do not want to bring your family to visit (I’m not going to list them because I don’t want to turn this into some sleaze/red-light district thread).

So Mara, although Japan, Tokyo, and Shinjuku are very safe for a single woman, enjoy your time there, but don't let your guard down. There are other decent areas to stay in Tokyo and Shinjuku. Depends on what you would like to see during your brief stay. I’m sure we can suggest something for you.

Now, getting back to some quirky stuff for Marko:
-Yasukuni-jinja and Yushukan museum. Overt nationalism or revisionists, take your pick.
-Harajuku Bridge. Hokoten (pedestrian’s paradise) ended years ago, but the goth kids still hang out there.
-Kappabashi-dori (Kitchen Town). Where you can buy your own plastic food to take home.
-Masakado Kubizuka in Otemachi. Even in death this warrior still commands respect of those around him.

And some non-quirky stuff that you should really see instead of the quirky stuff:
-Imperial Palace East Garden.
-Meiji jinja.
-Senso-ji in Asakusa.
-Sengaku-ji (Shinagawa). Buddhist temple and the final resting place of the faithful 47 Ronin.

hawaiiantraveler Aug 24th, 2007 05:02 PM

ksuke, lol
you earned these today

O:) O:) O:) O:) O:)

kuranosuke Aug 24th, 2007 06:41 PM

haruna, yasukuni-jinja, "overt nationalism or revisionist", well put. very diplomatic. :-)

sengaku-ji, hai, go there. you might see a familiar name there.


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