Facing Shinjuku 3-Chome

Shinjuku. It embodies so much of what makes Tokyo convenient, fun, and modern. It is also overcrowded and noisy.

I could post 1000 pictures of Shinjuku, but I wouldn’t be able to accurately portray the contrasts. World class dining and shopping, pachinko parlors, bars, and more places to waste money than you could throw a stick at!

I had to teach at my music college in Saitama Prefecture again. And the trains were extremely late (there were some really strong winds in some areas, which caused delays). While I was in Shinjuku waiting for my train, I managed to take a few pictures. I also helped a couple from Denmark find the right train. I told them I had worked briefly at The Northwest Danish Foundation, and the man mentioned the name of a Danish person he knew in Seattle. I wasn’t sure if I had met him, but his name sounded familiar.

At any rate, here is one of the pictures I took this morning. I walked out of the South Exit, and snapped this picture. It is facing 新宿三丁目 (Shinjuku 3-Chome), an area with many department stores. If you look just right of center, you can see a building with “OIOI” on it. That is Marui Department Store, one of the biggest department store chains in Japan. I have taught English at several Marui branches in Japan, including one right next to that building (you can’t see it in this picture).

By the way, I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this, but most cities in Japan are not laid out with clearly defined street names. There are a few famous streets, but most places are pretty hard to find: “Go to the 7-11 and take a right. You’ll see a big park. Then turn left and walk until you see another 7-11…” That is always fun when you have a really undecipherable map and you have to find a new school at 7:45 am.

Instead, cities are laid out with a special block system, called “chome” 「丁目」（pronounced, “choh-may”). The area in that picture is 3-Chome. If you’d like to learn more about the address system in Japan, and I know you do….check out this Wikipedia article on the Japanese address system.