Our fifth day in Japan saw us visiting Shinjuku for some shopping, having decided against our initial plans to visit Hakone due to Sunday being the busiest day of the week. We were pleased with the change in plans as we had the opportunity to explore Shinjuku at a relaxed pace during the day in contrast to our brief visits during the evening on previous trips.
Shinbashi, Minato City, Tōkyō
the b shimbashi
the b shimbashi, 1 Chome-17-13 Nishishinbashi, Minato City, Tōkyō 105-0003, Japan
D woke up early to score us each a complimentary red bean croissant from the hotel foyer.
On our way out, we tried their complimentary coffee as well. It was about as good as one would expect.
All the subway stations in Tōkyō had completed their facelift since our last visit in 2019.
Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō
Ramen Hayashida
らぁ麺 はやし田 新宿本店, Shinjuku Pegasus Building, 3 Chome-31-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō 160-0022, Japan
They kept track of the type of broth each customer ordered with bulldog clips: white for soy sauce and black for black throat sea perch.
Ajitama Nodoguro Soba (¥1,150). This was the ramen served with a broth made with black throat sea perch, which was limited to about 60 servings a day (40 for lunch, 20 for dinner).
This bowl is one of the best ramen we’ve eaten anywhere. The soup had an incredible oceanic flavour with the oil of the fatty fish coating the noodles coming through at the head of every bite before developing with the fish’s sweetness. Yet, the broth was distinctly savoury, balanced with the soy sauce and kombu soup base. When we instinctively want to drink the soup in a ramen bowl, we know it’s good, and we definitely did that here. The slices of pork were slow-cooked, almost rare, yet delectably tender.
Special Soy Sauce Noodles (¥1,100)
This was their most popular menu item, which paired the kombu soup base of the previous with chicken. Here, the flavour of the chicken was rich with great depth and a gentle sweetness that was enhanced by the umami in the soy sauce. The soup of both ramen was clear without the heaviness associated with tonkotsu ramen.
The ajitama had the most vibrant red-orange yolk that was perfectly oozy, while the noodles had small specks of whole wheat that provided a toothsome al dente texture.
Bic Camera
ビックカメラ 新宿東口店, 3 Chome-29-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō 160-0022, Japan
We popped into Bic Camera to complete our set of these 3D animal puzzles from Bandai Namco.
These natto, garlic and uni puzzles were also enticing.
On the ground floor, Bic Camera was having a sale on some food items. We picked up a flavour of each of our favourite Yamazaki Biscuit Chip Star Potato Chips.
Sanrio Gift Gate
Sanrio 新宿店, 1F Books Kinokuniya Shinjuku Main Store, 3 Chome-17-7, Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, 160-0022 Tōkyō, Japan
Books Kinokuniya
紀伊國屋書店 新宿本店, 3 Chome-17-7 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō 160-0022, Japan
We headed into Kinokuniya to pick up a few reference books on mizuhiki and found a corner for the manga/anime Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san.
Disney Flagship Store
ディズニーフラッグシップ東京, T&TIII Building, 3 Chome-17-5, Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, 160-0022 Tōkyō, Japan
The flagship Disney store in Tōkyō was huge with plenty of limited edition items to celebrate their 100th birthday.
Disney collaborated with Godiva for limited edition plush toys and chocolates.
Even Nissin Cup Noodles had a collaboration with featuring Mickey Mouse.
At the Pixar UniBEARsity, customers could create their own custom T-shirt.
A tiny shopping basket was available for sale.
And of course, there was all manner of Disney collectible items for prices that would make anyone do a double take.
But also, cute affordable everyday plush items.
Outside, we found a Muji Pocket, a vending machine for popular items.
Miyazaki Products Shop Konne
新宿みやざき館 KONNE, Shinjuku Southern Terrace, 2 Chome-2-1, Yoyogi, Shibuya City, 151-0053 Tōkyō, Japan
We chanced upon a satellite store for Miyazaki Prefecture, which seemed to hold a wider variety of regional products than the gift stores we visited in Miyazaki Prefecture the previous week.
Starbucks Coffee
スターバックス コーヒー 新宿新南口店, 1F Shinjuku Youth Building, 4 Chome-1-9 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, 160-0022 Tōkyō, Japan
Our feet sorely needed a break after a day of shopping. We stopped by Starbucks Coffee to try the Cola Frappucino (tall, dine-in, ¥690, inc tax).
This was the first time Starbucks introduced a cola flavour to their lineup in Japan. A zesty hint of lime in the cola gave the drink a craft cola flavour, while the vanilla-flavoured whipped cream — blended with espresso coffee for extra richness and aroma — rounded out the acidity of the cola. The addition of the red cherry gave the drink a trendy retro appearance. All in all, this frappuccino tasted much like a cola float with a hint of coffee and we enjoyed it very much.
We located the Japan Bearista Bears. They were about double the price of the South Korea Bearista Bears, so we slept on the idea of bringing them home with us before picking them up the following day in Harajuku.
At around 5 PM, we headed in the direction of Kabukichō for dinner but not before stopping by Don Quijote.
Shinjuku Station East Exit
JR Shinjuku East Exit Station Square, 3 Chome-38-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō 160-0022, Japan
We also stumbled on the Cross Shinjuku Vision Space billboard opposite Shinjuku Station’s east exit.
This was Tōkyō’s first 3D billboard and features a curved LED screen that can display 4K images and play sounds. The curved screen allows for more depth and helps create that jaw-dropping 3D effect when seen from certain angles.
A larger-than-life calico cat who sleeps, wakes up and stares at passing pedestrians appears throughout the day between advertisements, from when the screen turns on at 7 AM until it turns off at 1 AM. The cat is part of a public service announcement from the Shinjuku Metropolitan Police Department whose koban is also located nearby. It has different modes throughout the day when it meows, yawns and waves its tail around. The ‘morning’ cat appears at the top of every hour, the ‘talking’ cat pops up multiple times each hour (seen here). while the ‘goodnight’ cat appears 30 minutes before the screen shuts off.
An advertisement from Sanrio occupied the curved screen as well 2D screen on a nearby building. The characters moved between the two screens as if they were connected. PomPomPurin’s lower body was ‘stuck’ in the first space while trying to climb into the second space where his friends were trying to pull him through.
We also caught an Ajinomoto advertisement for their fried rice seasoning.
The last time we were in Kabukichō was in 2011 during the day when we were oblivious to the somewhat shady connotations of the area.
Kabukichō, Shinjuku City, Tōkyō
Ramen Hōsenka
金目鯛らぁ麺 鳳仙花, 1F Tsurugi Building, 1-Chome-24-6, Kabukichō, Shinjuku City, 160-0021 Tōkyō, Japan
Our dinner destination was Ramen Hōsenka, the second store of Ramen Hayashida whose ramen we’d enjoyed for brunch. While Hayashida used chicken and black throat seaperch as their broth base, Housenka was all about the golden eye snapper, or kinmedai.
Ajitama Kinmedai Ramen (¥950, inc tax)
Special Kinmedai Ramen (¥1,050, inc tax).
With the exception of the ‘special’ featuring extra pork, both bowls were identical. The broth was light yet carried an intense flavour, tasting like concentrated fish flesh with a richer and oilier fish flavour than the black throat sea perch from Ramen Hayashida. The egg was similarly delectable with its rich red and oozy yolk. The pork here was in the form of thin cuts of pork shoulder, rather than the thicker chashu, which looked almost rare, yet was tender and melt-in-the-mouth. The noodles had the same texture and appearance as Ramen Hayashida with small specks of whole wheat in there that provided a toothsome al dente texture.
Caffè Veloce
カフェ・ベローチェ 新宿サブナード店, B1C 5 Subnade, 1-Chome, Kabukichō, Shinjuku City, 160-0021 Tōkyō, Japan
After dinner, we headed to Caffè Veloce for dessert.
Coffee Jelly (¥370). This is our favourite item: coffee jelly. The coffee flavour, as ever, was boldly unapologetic, fragrant with just enough bitterness, and balanced beautifully by the sweetness and creamy coldness of the soft serve.
We had initial plans to visit NAKED Sakura Night Garden at Shinjuku Gyoen. But not realising it was the opening weekend and that tickets were sold out, we turned around after joining the flood of crowds heading in that direction from the station. The display was the first collaboration between Shinjuku Gyoen and NAKED, INC., featuring approximately 900 cherry trees of about 70 varieties blooming in Shinjuku Gyoen that were lit up according to the variety of cherry blossoms in full bloom.
We visited a 7-11 and a Lawson and stubbornly put every last bit of my Japanese reading skills to use trying to purchase tickets, but realised it was a fruitless endeavour without a Japanese phone number to which to send the ticket. Satisfied that we’d tried our best, we headed back on the subway where we noticed power points for phone charging.
Shinbashi, Minato City, Tōkyō
Shimbashi Station
McDonald’s
マクドナルド 新橋日比谷口店, 2 Chome-6-7 Shinbashi, Minato City, Tōkyō 105-0004, Japan
Back at Shinbashi Station, we soothed our disappointment with the seasonal limited Ichigō Daifuku Pie (¥160, inc tax) as well one of the usual Apple Pies (¥160, inc tax).
The Ichigō Daifuku Pie had a pink hue and featured a filling of mochi and red bean paste, both of which were blended with strawberry. It was delicious — the strawberry flavour was fresh with the perfect sweetness and acidity, while the mochi was soft and squishy, and the red bean paste was soft with some chunky bite. All three components came through in equal measure, while the pie itself was hot and crisp.
As for the Apple Pie, we’d enjoyed it before on previous trips and continue to prefer the version available in Australia that uses the tarter variety of Granny Smith apples.
Back at the hotel, we enjoy some Kirin Mets Cola and Sangaria Ramune.
Kirin Mets Cola is one of our favourite colas. Before craft cola was mainstream in Japan, Kirin Mets Cola distinguished itself from Coca-Cola and Pepsi by a slightly sharper, gently spiced quality that brought great depth to the cola flavour. We make it a point to drink it at least once each time.
The Sangaria Ramune was much like a Mitsuya Cider — a cross between a lemonade and a ginger ale.
We enjoy some dekopon that we’d picked up the previous day at a small fruit market in Asakusa and balance it out with the Yamazaki Biscuit Co Chip Star Potato Chips in their original flavour. We continue to prefer this brand over Pringles, due to their size, thickness and overall flavour.
Tōkyō – Shinjuku was Day 5 of 8 on the Japan 2023 trip. Day 6 saw us staying in Tōkyō and visiting the areas of Shibuya and Omotesando.