Shinjuku at Night I

I bought a tripod recently so I can take better pictures in low light. A previous post talked about how cheap you can get a full tripod for just 3,000 yen. I got mine at BIC Camera, one of the mega-electronics chains in Tokyo.

Last Monday was a holiday in Japan, so I went out to Shinjuku thinking it would be calmer than usual. I was wrong; it was packed. Young people were out like it was a Friday night. Restaurants and bars were brimming with packs of twenty- and thirty-somethings. Many were even wearing suits. Who wears a suit on a Sunday? Even in Japan, I am unsure. Sometimes salespeople wear suits on a Saturday. You can see them when riding the subway, but Sunday is quite rare.

If you exit from higashi guchi at Shinjuku station (新宿駅の東口 -- east side exit), you end up on the border of a famous red-light district called Kabukicho. The massive display of neon lights and the mixture of people provides many good photo opportunities.

On the other side of the train tracks is a pair of narrow alleys. One of which was pictured at the very beginning of my blog. It is called Omoide Yokochō (思い出横丁) or "Memory Lane". Many guidebooks feature it as a slice of Old Japan. Its sister alley is less well known, but is still brimming with restaurants and activity.

The featured photo above is from the sister alley, and the wall on the right holds back the roaring JR trains.