Ikebukuro passage
 

I don't know where to find the answer so I hope someone can enlighten me on this.

I will be staying at the Metropolitan on the westside late nov to early dec. I usually stay at the Sunshine City Prince on the eastside and am used to the nightlife there having never ventured anywhere on the westside past the Liberty store right by the station. Now here's my question: how late do the underground passages at Ikebukuro station stay open? And if they do close at a certain time and I've missed the cutoff, how do I get to the westside (aside from waiting till they open in the morning)?

Any help is greatly appreciated :)

I'm hoping you get an authoritative response, but, since the question is a really interesting one, I fired up Google Earth to check this out. (I seem to remember walking from East to West late, but not really, really late.) I assume you mean walking, since taxi would be the brute force approach.

It looks from the overhead imagery, however, as if the Ikebukuro-Ōhashi highway bridge, about 350m to the north of the station, doesn't accommodate pedestrians unless they're shaped like cars. Same for the southern bridge, even farther away by Mejiro station, on Mejiro Dori. You might be stuck taking a taxi.

Here's the reference for the Ikebukuro station:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthrea...ge&Number=3598

I don't quite remember how late those passages stay open.
I'm pretty sure there is a way to walk through by a far end of the train station. I'd definitely agree that the nightlife on the west side isn't good (in fact, I've never bothered with it!).

Sorry I can't be more helpful with this, but I'm almost certain there's (at least) one there. Worse comes to worse, you can check it out when you first get there.

Wow...it never would have occurred to me to fire up that program to see ^ . And if i'm looking at that same bridge that you described it kind of looks like there is a pedestrian walkway on the south side of it. But barring any firsthand experience from someone else, I'll just have to see for myself when I get there :p I'll make sure to report back if no one can confirm this or offer a shorter route like ....I'm not going to even bother with that one south of the station b/c that looks just too far :p

Welcome to Flyertalk bally-k!
I put off saying hello earlier as I couldn't offer a constructive reply. I'm afraid you've picked on an area that gets a bit of a ribbing in the Tokyo forum - although it does have its stalwart supporters too!
With a little more time, I'm confident a couple of them will see your query and jump on it!

It's great to see a question posted by a new 'face' that hasn't been asked (and answered) again and again before.
Congratulations on (initially at least) stumping our panel!

There is a pedestrian underpass to the north of Ikebukuro Station, between the policebox and BIC Camera on the east side and coming out on the west side between the North entrance of Ikebukuro station and the "entertainment" district of Ikebukuro. Heading south from there, keeping Ikebukuro Station on your left, will bring you to the Metropolitan.

The Metropolitan is an easy walk from the station. It is FTer friendly with free internet service in the business center. The underpass goes through the basements of the train stations and the department store (food section). The more favorable exit for you closes at 11 pm, but there is still another open on the west side.