Roppongi and Shinjuku are two of Tokyo’s liveliest nightlife districts. You can party through the night in both, but there’s a lot to discover for those who tend to head to bed a tad earlier as well: from atmospherically lit alleys to impressive museums. Trot Op! took a small discovery tour and listed the most important sights to visit.
Shinjuku and Roppongi don’t seem all too similar at first sight. They’re not particularly close to each other, attract different audiences and both have quite distinct vibes. I’m still going to talk about them in the same article though. Partly because I’m a lazy degenerate who’d like to finally be able write about something else after nine extensive pieces on Tokyo, but mainly because both areas have more in common than you might think. Most importantly: both Roppongi and Shinjuku are popular places for a night out. I myself am of course not averse to the occasional nightly bacchanal, but because I wandered through Tokyo on my own for weeks and my feet were usually worn out by dinner time, I only caught glimpses of the main party scene. The heaviest binge-drinking therefore took place in my little 50 square feet hotel room, supported by a bag of random snacks bought in the Lawsons next door (Japanese snacks are awesome btw). Fortunately for me and many others, both districts offer plenty of other things to do for people already passed out at ten pm.
Shinjuku was one of three neighbourhoods (together with Shibuya and Ikebukuro) selected to be developed into Tokyo’s main urban centres in the 1950s. This worked out pretty well, making Shinjuku Station the busiest train station on the planet today. It has more than two hundred (!!) exits and 3.6 million commuters pass through it on a daily basis. Over the years, the district was built full of skyscrapers mainly housing hotels and multinationals – for a nice and completely free view of them, pop into the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. At ground level, Shinjuku is much more lively and chaotic, turning into Japan’s largest nightlife district almost as soon as the sun goes down.
Discover Shinjuku & Roppongi: Tokyo by night in 9 exciting steps
Roppongi makes for quite a pleasant night out as well. Located in the Minato Ward south of the Imperial Palace, it’s one of Tokyo’s most central neighbourhoods. After WWII, a whole lot of American soldiers were stationed here, and the area continued to attract foreigners ever since. Even today Roppongi is one of the capital’s most international areas. You’ll hear more English than usual in restaurants and bars, and several businesses explicitly cater to the expat market. The nightlife scene too is a bit more cosmopolitan than in Shinjuku or Shibuya. This is why most pub crawls for tourists are organised here, and if you’re looking for a place to dance, there are several large clubs to choose from. Around the turn of the millennium, the whole area got thoroughly overhauled. As a result, plenty of fancy hotels and shopping malls were added. These are mainly concentrated in and around two huge real estate projects: Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. You’ll find some of the city’s more prestigious art museums in and around these two as well. Now let’s take a look at Shinjuku and Roppongi’s main attractions.
1. Kabikucho: party hard in Japan’s most notorious nightlife district
Kabukicho is right next to Shinjuku Station and is the largest entertainment district (as well as the largest red light district) in Japan. Visually, neon-covered Godzilla Street is the most impressive part of it – of course named after the life-sized head of the monster rising menacingly above the local movie theatre. It’s the small streets surrounding this area where Kabukicho really comes to life though. These are filled to the brim with izakaya, pachinko halls (a gambling game involving little steel balls half of Japan seems to be addicted to), karaoke bars, hostess clubs (bars where you talk to beautiful women while you pay for their drinks: not recommended) and discotheques. In total, there are more than a thousand bars and restaurants to choose from. Note that Kabukicho is one of the only neighbourhoods in Japan where you have to use your wits at night. Never (and I really mean never) follow one of the random touts trying to take you to their “favourite bar”. You’ll find yourself back outside with a plundered credit card and potentially even drugged a few hours later. If you take this warning into account, there are plenty of more pleasant places to visit, including:
–Golden Gai: this is a network of narrow alleys where you can visit more than 200 tiny bars. Very photogenic, atmospheric and the safest and nicest place to start a pub crawl in Kabukicho (more social control and no touts). Many of the bars have their own theme, so you’ll be spoilt for choice.
–Samurai Restaurant: enjoy a 2-hour extravagant dance show while eating your dinner (tickets here). This is the successor of the iconic Robot Restaurant.
–Kabukicho Tower: a new complex opened in 2023. It has a spectacular game center, food court, concert hall and an escape room that serves more as an obstacle course.
–Shinjuku Nichōme: this area is a few minutes’ walk from Kabukicho, but is the place to be in Tokyo for people from the LGBTQ scene. While you’re here, visit Jokaku-ji as well. In the garden of this somewhat neglected little temple is a cemetery where more than 2.000 19th century prostitutes who were dumped into a mass grave after human trafficking cost them there lives, are now remembered. People still put sake glasses and bottles on the tombstones as a sign of respect.
2. Omoide Yokocho: nightly BBQs in an izakaya
Would you like to have a bite to go with all that boozing? In that case, Omoide Yokocho is the place for you. Like Golden Gai, this is a network of narrow, atmospherically lit alleys full of tiny businesses, but here most of them are restaurants. Many of these izakaya are grills where you can order all kinds of meat and fish per skewer (including the famous yakitori chicken). Also like in Golden Gai, you’ll sit shoulder to shoulder with the other diners. This almost forces you to be social, which is very pleasant for people like me who travel alone – had a lot of fun down here. The literal translation of Omoide Yokocho is “Memory Lane”, which is quite appropriate. You’re walking around in a Tokyo that has long since ceased to be in many other parts of the city. People sometimes call it “Piss Alley” as well, but fortunately this is also a term from a bygone past. The place is quite clean these days, so no need to worry. Lovely spot for pictures as well.
PS: here you’ll find a pub/izakaya crawl taking you through Kabukicho, Golden Gai and Omoido Yokocho in one go.
3. Tokyo Tower: a touch of Paris in Roppongi
Always wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower, but didn’t feel like traveling all the way to Paris to see it? Don’t worry, there’s one in Tokyo as well. This one’s called Tokyo Tower, is bright orange and is twenty meters taller than the comparatively pretty pathetic original in France. Until the Tokyo Skytree was completed in 2012, this was the tallest building in the entire city. The tower’s been here since 1958 and was mainly used as a transmission mast for radio and TV. As more and more high-rise buildings were built around it, the signal deteriorated and the function was eventually given to the much taller Skytree. As a result Tokyo Tower is mainly a tourist attraction these days (and technically just outside of Roppongi but who cares). Two observation platforms can be visited: one at 150 and one at 250m altitude. From there, the view over Tokyo is almost unlimited. But in my opinion it’s not the best vantage point over the city, for the simple reason you of course can’t see the beautifully lit tower in the skyline while you’re on it. If you want the full picture, it’s better to visit the viewpoint in the next chapter instead
4. Roppongi Hills & Mori Tower: enjoy the best view over Tokyo
Roppongi Hills is one of two mega projects in Roppongi (duh), and in my opinion the most interesting of the bunch. It was finished about 20 years ago and acts as a city within the city, with towers full of office buildings, hotels and apartments, a cinema, a museum and a myriad of shops and restaurants. The idea was to give people who could afford it the opportunity to live, work and relax in comfort without having to take the metro for an hour every day. For tourists, the upper floors are the most worthwhile. There you’ll find the Mori Art Museum, exhibiting modern art from both Japan and the rest of the world. Even more interesting is Tokyo City View. This is a 250m high observation deck offering an unparalleled view over Tokyo, especially after sunset. You have a 360 degree view on the city from here, the Tokyo Tower and the main skyscrapers are nearby and you can even see Mount Fuji in the distance (only if the weather allows it). Moreover: it’s so large and spacious there’s always a window available somewhere.
5. Horrific spiders and fish from space
There are two other nice places to visit under Mori Tower. Roku Roku Plaza is home to the most terrifying sculpture in the entire city (for arachnophobes at least). Maman is a huge bronze spider sculpted by French artist Louise Bourgeous. It’s nine meters high, ten meters wide and if you stand under it you’ll see an egg sack with twenty-six babies dangling from the abdomen. According to Louise, the sculpture is an ode to her mom, who used to work the weaving loom as a hobby. I don’t know if she was disinherited immediately after unveiling this thing, but the chance is real. A couple of minutes from the spider you’ll find Mohri Garden: a 400 year old Japanese garden that feels like an anachronism in this modern complex. It has a pond with a bunch of tiny rice fish whose ancestors have done greater things in life than almost everyone of us. In 1994, they were taken for a mission on the Space Shuttle, which officially made them fish astronauts. Sadly their offspring is so tiny I couldn’t really spot any of them.
6. The National Art Centre: a visually impressive museum
The National Art Center can be found in a small park a short walk from Roppongi Hills, and is just about the largest art museum in Japan in terms of exhibition space. As far as the art collection is concerned it is not though, because they don’t actually have one. Instead, it holds various temporary exhibitions throughout the year: most of them modern art. You’ll have to pay for the majority of the exhibitions, but the building itself can be entered free of charge and is quite impressive. In this glass UFO-like colossus, several circular “islands” rise up from the floor of the entrance hall, and can only be reached via a foot bridge. Once on them, you can order a coffee or a piece of cake at leisure (if the vertigo doesn’t spoil your appetite that is).
7. Hachiko’s grave: honour a dead dog
Take another short walk from the National Art Center and you’ll end up in the vast Aoyama Cemetery. This place is worth a visit in itself, because Japanese cemeteries are quite peaceful, but there’s a unique grave to spot for those who can find it. Follow the marker on Google Maps, and you can walk straight to Hachiko’s tombstone. Hachiko was the loyal dog whose statue in front of Shibuya Station still attracts crowds of spectators every day. This akita inu became world famous in the early 20th century, as it lay waiting for his deceased owner in front of the station for over ten years. That owner was Professor Hidesaburo Ueno, and when Hachiko finally died in 1935, they put his ashes to rest in the grave right next to Ueno’s – rewarding his loyalty posthumously. Maybe even more moving than the story is the fact the grave became a kind of pilgrimage for people missing their own pets. As a result it’s always full of coins, teddy bears and dog toys.
8. Sunshine City: a short trip to Ikebukuro
For people who just can’t get enough Tokyo views, I would like to recommend Sunshine City as well. This is a huge complex in Ikebukuro, comparable to Roppongi Hills but older. On one of the top floors you’ll find the Sunshine 60 Observatory. The entire space here was designed as some sort of stylized sky garden, so you can enjoy the view while you relax. They also thought of the Instagram crowd, and decorated some of the windows as impressive selfie spots. There is of course an entire mall to explore in Sunshine city as well. The Gachapon Department Store is the most unique place here. This is the largest Gachapon Hall on the planet, with no less than 3.000 machines spewing out capsule toys. Not even Akihabara has this many under one roof. Sadly I have to advise against visiting the Sunshine City Aquarium. It looks very impressive on the photos you’ll find online. You’ll see penguins and sea lions seemingly gliding through the air with the skyline as a backdrop. In reality however, these animals are stuck in enclosures that are too small and offer little enrichment. The sea lion in particular has it bad: it’s just swimming in circles in some sort of glass slide, bored out of its mind. If the water had been somewhat deeper, it would have drowned itself years ago. Pass.
General travel tips for Shinjuku & Roppongi: hotels, tours and public transport
**Disclaimer: This section contains a number of (useful) affiliate links. This means that if you book a hotel or tour through a referral on this page, I’ll receive a small compensation for it. It won’t cost you even an extra cent, so why hesitate? Thank you in advance!**
Where you stay in Tokyo doesn’t really matter that much and depends on your budget and interests. Make sure you’re close to a metro station though. It’ll save you plenty of time every day and apart from the occasional bus, you don’t need to use any other means of transport. Read my articles, decide which area you’d like to stay in and then compare rates and venues on Booking.com (as I did too).
You can book a a whole range of interesting activities, guided tours and day trips in Tokyo. For a complete overview, take a look at GetYourGuide. Here’s a nice pub crawl in Roppongi, and here’s a place where you can learn to make professional looking sushi with a chef. In Shinjuku you can go for a night photography session, a food tour with 13 dishes or a “dark history” tour (murder! crime!) through Kabukicho. Want to leave the city for a while? Book a tailor-made day trip to Mount Fuji and Hakone.
Buy a local eSIM card before you get to Japan, you’ll need it. I’ve been using Airalo for years. This is an app that lets you buy data in almost every country on the planet. It just takes a couple of clicks. Install the sim at home and activate it after landing: that’s it. You really need mobile data in Japan, so you can use Google Maps to navigate through the subway system in real time. Google will tell you which train to take when, which carriage is best for your transfer and which exit you need to use to get to your destination fastest. Without online help you’re almost guaranteed to get lost.
You’ll need a Suica Card to use public transport smoothly. The Welcome Suica Card is specifically catered to tourists and can be ordered online. You can top up the card with cash in any station, and it works in other Japanese cities as well. The Suica Card also serves as an electronic wallet. The Japanese economy is surprisingly cash-focused, so if you don’t pay with your Suica Card, you’ll be carrying around a whole pouch of nearly unusable coins after a couple of days.
If you want to visit a lot of different cities with the Shinkansen bullet train, it’s best to buy a Japan Rail Pass (book it here directly). You’ll have to do this from home and long before your departure, because they’ll actually send you the pass by mail and you can’t buy one in Japan. If you’re only visiting three or four cities like I did, it might be better to buy separate tickets on the spot – you’ll have to do the math to see which option is preferable. JR-passes can be booked here. Don’t want to bother with all of this and looking for a tailor-made trip (either individually or in a group) instead? Check out Japan Experience: they offer plenty of wonderful itineraries throughout the entire country.
In need of cash? 7-Elevens always have an ATM in store, accepting all foreign cards. You’ll want to use these, because plenty of other places won’t be as compliant.
EU citizens do not need a visa to enter Japan for trips up to ninety days. You could basically leave tomorrow should you want to. The yen is historically low these days, so now is the time.
Ready for more Tokyo? Read my articles on Odaiba, Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara, Ginza, Asakusa, Ueno and Marunouchi next.
Looking for another Asian Trip? Read my blog posts on Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Hanoi. Would you rather go to Texas? Read my posts on Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
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