A number of people will be staying around
Shinjuku for the Do. On Friday I am planning a walk around this commercial and administrative district, surrounding the
busiest train station in the world, through which I had the dubious pleasure of travelling 5 days a week for 17 years of my life! The walk is provisionally planned for
Friday morning to start around 10.00 am. By starting in the morning we could buy a picnic lunch at Isetan Department Store to eat in Shinjuku Gyoen Garden at the end of our walk. The distance will be about 3~4km (2~3 miles). Here's the plan.
Meet in the lobby of Hyatt Regency > Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building > Skyscraper District > 'big underpass' linking west and east Shinjuku > Kabukicho 'entertainment' district > Hanazono Shrine > Isetan Department Store (basement food hall aka Depa-chika) > Shinjuku Gyoen Garden
We'll go up to the observation deck on the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (Tochō) if it's a nice day. We'll then walk through the skyscraper district to the underpass which links the 'new' Shinjuku (west) and the 'old' Shinjuku (east). My Shinjuku is not like this:
but more like this. This is the 'big underpass' which links east and west Shinjuku.
The east side of Shinjuku Station is quite different.
We may be a little late for cherry blossoms but will make a little detour to visit the Hanazono Shrine.
We'll then go to the flagship store of Isetan, one of the oldest department stores in Shinjuku, to visit its basement food hall (aka Depa-Chika). 'Depa' is short for 'department (store)' or depaato in Japanese, and 'chika' means basement or underground.
Here are what you might see in Depa-Chika.
We may even be able to order a bento box by the QR code!
It's only a short walk from Isetan to Shinjuku Gyoen which is one of the largest parks in Tokyo.
From Shinjuku Gyoen you can take the Tokyo Metro subway back to Nishi-Shinjuku or walk to Sendagaya Station and take the JR train back to Shinjuku or walk back through another shopping area with several department stores near the Southern Exit of Shinjuku Station.