Shinjuku: the towers and the lanes
The free tower view to Fuji, then down into the grilled-skewer lanes and the great garden. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Shinjuku Station, west exit
The busiest station on earth, and the only sane way to start is to walk out of it and not look back. Take the west exit and aim for the towers; the underground concourse will try to keep you, so surface as soon as you can.

2. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
The observation deck is free, open till late, and on a clear evening you can pick out Mount Fuji against the sunset. Go up the north tower; queue early evening before the after-work crowd arrives.

3. Omoide Yokocho
*Omoide Yokocho* (Memory Lane) is a knot of tiny grilled-skewer stalls beside the tracks, smoke and lantern-light at head height. Eat standing; one *yakitori* and a beer is the right dose before you go on.

4. Kabukicho gate
The big red gate marks the edge of *Kabukicho*, Tokyo's loudest night district. You don't have to go in — walk the edge for the neon wash and the scale of it, then turn for the quieter lanes.

5. Golden Gai
*Golden Gai* is six narrow alleys of bars the size of cupboards, each sitting six or eight people. Best early evening, before they fill; some welcome strangers, some don't, and the signs tell you which.

6. Hanazono-jinja
A *jinja* (shrine) wedged between the bars and the towers, vermilion and quiet at dusk. The contrast with *Golden Gai* a minute away is the whole point of Shinjuku in one courtyard.

7. Shinjuku Gyoen
The great garden — French, English and Japanese landscapes inside one wall, and the city dropping away the moment you're through the gate. There's a small entry fee; it closes earlier than you'd like, so come before the light goes.

Shinjuku: the towers and the lanes