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 !! ;)

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

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!

HT, thats great thank you !!!!

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.

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

go on fill me in....:)

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!

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

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.

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.....

Haruna, we love the quirky stuff !!!

Kabukicho is certainly safe enough for a professional woman.

lol, mrwunrfl

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. :-)

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.

Thanks everyone for your comments and opinions ;-)

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.

ksuke, lol
you earned these today

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

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

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

Thanks people !! :)

Not exactly quirky, but off the western tourist beaten path is Tokyo Race Course. Keio Plaza makes me think of it because you can take the Keio Line out to Fuchu and then xfer to a short line to the race course. Tell the ticket seller at Keio Shinjuku Station that you want to go to Fuchu, keiba-jo.

ht - 'not that I frequent many'.

did you make a mistake with the m???????

or are you sure L won't be reading this!

of course the men of the board didn't react to that statment, but they don't possess the super-sensitive, vigilant feminine ear!

polly, of course I meant any

:^o

We do like our noodles, anywhere close by recommended ?

It's not close by, but if you really are serious about your ramen noodles, you'll find a way to hop on the train to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.

If you like soba, there's Yabu Soba over in Kanda.

There's noodle places all over Shinjuku (even spaghetti if you want). Shinjuku Station even has those places where you buy your ticket from the vending machine. And if you're feeling especially lazy, you can even go to Lawson/Family Mart/7-11 and get instant noodles.

Marko,

Across the street from the same aforementioned Post Office and across the opposite intersection is very good Undon Restaurant who's name escapes me at the moment. They have up and downstairs and the plastic food in the front window and a boutique hotel named Shinjuku Sun something(someone will remember and help me in my senior moment)across the street, very good imho.

Also in the same area is the 295 Ramen noodle restaurant. It's one of our favorites. It's on the second floor up a short stairway and is very crowded at lunchtime, but don't be intimidated. Just walk thru the door and hold up two fingers(or three depending on how many people you have)and the hostess/waitress will show you a seat. If it's between 12 - 1 you might have to wait a few minutes but its worth it imho. Wish I had a miso ramen with a side order of gyoza right now, lol

They have an Japanese/Eng menu with pictures so its very easy to order, just point. We call the place 295 cause thats what the sign says in English on the street but it really has a Japanese name. 295 yen is actually the price of their daily special ramen dish thus the big 295 on the outside sign. They have all kinds of ramen dishes in three sizes S, M & L with other things side dishes like kara age chicken, gyoza, tofu, etc. They also have set meals. Great place and very cheap.

There are literally dozens of noodle shops in the areas around and in Shinjuku station. We have tried some which were excellent but I would have to take your there as it's hard to explain how to get to. Go exploring, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Aloha!

Kin-kan Tei is the name of that Soba/udon noodle place I mentioned earlier. Here is a list of some other restaurants in Shinjuku. The websites are all in Japanese but you can use Alta Vista Babel Fish site to translate some of them

http://www.kananet.com/shinjuku-restaurant-eguide.htm

http://www.bento.com/ra-nshin.html

Also there are some world class restaurants in the Sumitomo Bld on the 47th tru 49th floors and the views up there are spectacular! Ok enough babbling from me.

Aloha!

ok last one....check out the kananet site thoroughly as they have tons of useful info on all of Tokyo and Japan in general from buying and pictures of subway ticket machines to what times of the year to be in the right place for a sakura viewing(not guaranteed).

Aloha!

HT...keep blabbing ,its just what I need ! :)

Anyone else, is there a preferred side to the Keio that I can request ??

Depends on whether you prefer to see more of Shinjuku or Nishi-Shinjuku! I would say that if you are on the east side, unless you are on a high floor(~30+), you'll end up seeing alot of the building right across the street and not as much of the skyline as you'd think. If you are on the west side, you end up facing the TMG building, but it's far enough away. There's enough transmitters and dishes on the building, maybe they'll be spying on you! Anyways, if you want nice skyline views, go to the TMG observation decks!

OK ! ;)

(expecting filtered views of Mt Fuji !! :) )

Have you joined their EIC club yet? It's free and a few perks.

http://www.keioplaza.com/eic/index.html

Ask for a room in the main tower with a MT Fuji view. If you join the EIC they should upgrade you anyway.I think the rooms in the South tower are smaller.

I would pay the extra for a Deluxe room rather than the Superior room as the superiors are a little small imho.

As haruna said the higher you go the better the view and a better chance of seeing Fujisan.

Aloha!

Thanks HT !!

If you'll be in Shinjuku anyway and you want a great view of Mount Fuji, I recommend going to the New York Grill at the top of the Park Hyatt Shinjuku early in the morning - they won't have opened yet and as there is no "door" you can pretty much walk along all four sides of the building for a spectacular view of Tokyo and Mt. Fuji without interruption (except for the person running the vacuum cleaner!). Also, it's a better chance to see Fuji early a.m. before the smog sets in.

Is the smog bad in January ?

I joined the EIC club...that was easy ! ;)

ttt

Marko,

I haven't been in Jan but the winter months are supposed to be the best for viewing Fujisan in the morning from Shinjuku. We have had beautiful views in the mornings while we were there Feb-April

Aloha!