Imagine all of Tokyo distilled into one suburb: that’s Shinjuku. It has everything you’re looking for, from neon-lit streets with high-tech 3D billboards to dazzling department stores with mind-blowing depachika (food halls) and a boisterous nightlife with hundreds of tiny bars lining labyrinth alleys.

 

With a gobsmacking 5,500 venues, Shinjuku boasts the largest number of eateries in Tokyo. But don’t panic, we’ve found 45 of best restaurants from a Japanese dessert cafe that’s been creating dango (sweet, rice-flour dumplings) since 1697, to a hidden Michelin-rated sushi restaurant renowned for their traditional nigiri sushi (raw seafood served over rice).

 

The suburb is also groaning with retail attractions, with nearly 4,000 stores vying for your yen. The good news is that this chapter has narrowed the field to Shinjuku’s 20 must-visit shops that specialise in cutting-edge Japanese fashion, super-cute souvenirs and custom-made crafts.

 

Heading to the area at night? Shinjuku tops Tokyo with over 1,000 drinking establishments. This guide gives you the deets on 20 of our favourite after-hour hangouts from quiet listening bars that only play vinyl records, to raucous clubs blaring ear-splitting punk music, and a retro bar completely decorated with 1970s Japanese toys and classic J-Pop record albums.

                   

We’ve included eight great hotels for you to rest your weary head after all that bar-hopping. We’ll tell you where to soak in an outdoor rooftop onsen (hot spring bath) overlooking Shinjuku’s skyscrapers, and which Shinjuku hotel has an in-room ‘Alexa’ system to answer all your travel questions. 

 

The suburb also has the world’s busiest train station with around 3.6 million commuters daily, 51 platforms and 200 exits. You can relax though, as every listing in this chapter has the closest or most convenient exit gate assigned to it (above the body of the review).