The Joys of Shinjuku on a Weekday Night

Shinjuku, for those of you who have been there on a weekend, normally teems with people. In fact, when I first arrived in Japan and stayed at the Keio hotel on the west side of JR Shinjuku station, I was so overwhelmed by the crowds that I literally decided to shut myself in my room rather than get lost. Actually I did get out a couple of times, but those first few days, when I knew none of the language, still stick in my mind.

I remember a pedestrian overpass just packed with people -- a place I now identify as the southern exit of the JR station, near the Lumine buildings.

Anyhow: I was in Shinjuku last night, Monday, on a couple of errands. I was able to sneak into Takashimaya department store in "Times Square" to register for Moriizou shochu (the one where you can buy at regular price a shochu (satsuma imo vodka) that retails on the secondary market for 35,000 yen (actual price: about 2800 yen). And I also was able to check out the stollen fruitcakes there which I may end up picking up next weekend. Seeing as I won't be able to make it to Germany this year, I may end up buying myself a taste of Deutschland in the form of a marzipan stollen (a moist fruitcake with powdered sugar on top and marzipan (almond paste) in the middle of it ...)

Takashimaya was just closing when I arrived (I found it easier to access the store from the Shinjuku 3-chome metro stop rather than the JR/Marunocuchi Shinjuku line, which is a maze, believe me, trust me!) and so on my way out the employees bowed at their prescribed 45-degree angle ...

I was in Shinjuku really to buy a heater. I gave up shopping for the heater on Sunday and instead decided to head out after work. That way I would have more time and face thinner crowds, I figured, and I was right: on the sales floor there were more help than customers, which was an encouraging sign. I found what I needed, they plugged in a number of heaters to help me choose one to buy for my room (I found one for about 6000 yen) and I asked them to ship it to my place come this weekend. Seamless service, as always: one of the things I love about Japan.

But after finishing this errand, I was able to linger in the store and look around at the new gizmos that had just come out in the last few weeks. Sony had been touting its new audio/video player as an alternative to the iPod and I wanted to look at it up close in order to try out the buttons and check out the functions. While it was well designed, it seemed a little bit small to carry around (about the size of a matchbook) and watching TV on a screen that large was a big minus. A nearby model by Toshiba, the Gigabeat, featured a wide screen, long playback time and recordability, with also the standard audio/video playback that Apple has designed into its iPod. I didn't end up buying it but having the time to peruse these items was a true luxury.

I may try to stop by Shinjuku once a month in the evenings, just to avoid the crushing crowds that populate these kinds of (electronic) stores on the weekends ... of course I'll have to put up with businessmen on their way out from drinking with colleagues, but that's only a temporary thing, on the street.