SHINJUKU

Shinjuku is a city within a city. It has more than 337,000 inhabitants. It is one of 23 minicipalities that make up Tokyo. Each of them has something individual to offer, Shinjuku being no exception.

The name Shinjuku comes from Naito Shinjuku = Naito´s New Inn. It is because the history of Shinjuku begins with confiscation of land of the Naito clan by the government and establishing a shukuba here in 1698.  Shukuba was a place of rest on the road, where one could eat, drink, lodge and entertainment was provided, too. Something like an inn. Shin = new, shuku or juku = inn. From this time Shinjuku continued to grow. But was not as important as other parts of Tokyo. This was until the Great Kanto Earthquake struck in 1923. Shinjuku luckily suffered only minor damage. New life started to flow into this area and the population grew. This brought about the expansion of infrastructure which was not very developed here until then.

Arriving to Shinjuku Station by JR and having to change for Tokyo Metro and I was amazed at the maze… Despite of the fact that I have already been at many stations in Japan, including Tokyo Station, Japanese stations never cease to amaze me. And this one is unbelievable, it has as many as 36 platforms and appr. 200 exits…  With some 3.64 million passengers per day it is the world´s busiest station.