TOKYO - SHINJUKU

Shinjuku is the world's busiest train station - handling an estimated two million passengers per day - it's a well organized station and feels a lot less chaotic then Osaka's Umeda Station.  Depending upon whether you head east or west from the train station will shape your view of the area.  To the West is an area with many of Tokyo's recently constructed and modern office buildings - it may be most recognizable to Americans as the neighborhood where Lost in Translation was filmed.  In the narrow streets below these office buildings lay Izakayas and other restaurants which seem to be overlooked by Westerners and tourists.  If you walk into an Izakaya in this area you will receive a few blank stares from the patrons who believe you must be lost - the wait staff may not speak English but if the place is busy you can just point at meals that look good or fall back on anything that involves the deep fryer.  

To the East of Shinjuku Station are shopping streets and one of Tokyo's seedier nightlife district.  The "Golden Gai" area contains a high concentration of bars.

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ROBOT   RESTAURANT

Robot Restaurant may be the most unique of Shinjuku's night time offerings.  It's bizarre yet artistic, choreographed yet chaotic.  There are four, multiple set, shows a night each lasting about ninety minutes. Sets range between a massive, robot heavy performance and a slow ballads.  It's hard to believe everything came from one individual mind.  The show has various highlights including large robot woman and animals - fortunately you can record the entire performance.  I assume management's perspective is that you can't truly capture the experience on film and the more people that catch a preview the more that are likely to visit the full length performance.