Old apartment streets still hide between the Metropolitan Government's skyscrapers and the back alleys of Kabukicho
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
Shinjuku Station handles about 3.05 million passengers a day across all operators combined, and in 2024 Guinness World Records recognized it as the busiest station in the world. West of the station, Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome is home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and a cluster of skyscrapers; east of the station is Kabukicho, and just across one street is Hanazono Shrine.
Most people who live in this neighborhood are concentrated in three areas. Nishi-Shinjuku 7-chome sits between the Chuo Line embankment extending north from Shinjuku Station and Ome Kaido. Old apartment buildings, mid-range hotels, and small offices mix together along the streets, and the area is also known for its used record shops and live houses.
Around 2008, Zeimusho-dori was widened, and many condominium buildings for sale went up along the street. The other two residential areas are Kabukicho 2-chome, along Shokuan-dori and Meiji-dori, and Shinjuku 5-chome, around the former Banshucho area.
In 2020, only 7,489 people lived in this neighborhood, with these three areas accounting for over 90% of them. More than 80% of households here are single-person households, compared to under 70% for Shinjuku City as a whole; more than six in ten households rent.
Among Tokyo's 395 neighborhoods, healthcare ranks 3rd, the highest-ranking category for this neighborhood; public transit also ranks 7th.
Daily shopping ranks 35th, and everyday convenience ranks 9th. Among the skyscrapers is also Shinjuku Central Park.
This neighborhood is mainly offices, commerce, and entertainment; in 2020 only about 47 people lived per hectare here, compared to about 192 for Shinjuku City as a whole. Children under 15 make up only about 3% of residents, compared to about 8% for Shinjuku City as a whole.
In 2021, about 262,000 people worked here, 35 times the resident population. The five chome around the station—Nishi-Shinjuku 1-chome and 2-chome, Shinjuku 3-chome and 4-chome, and Kabukicho 1-chome—had a combined population of only 538. The back alleys of Kabukicho 1-chome are dense with restaurants, bars, and the sex trade.
Shinjuku Station opened in 1885 along with the Yamanote Line. Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome remained the Yodobashi Purification Plant until 1965; the Keio Plaza Hotel opened on the site in 1971, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government moved there in 1991.
The name Kabukicho only appeared in 1948. In 2023, Tokyu Kabukicho Tower opened on the former site of TOKYU MILANO.
On the west side, construction began in March 2024 on the former site of the Odakyu Department Store Shinjuku Main Building, for a 48-story, approximately 260-meter mixed-use tower. The completion target announced at groundbreaking is fiscal year 2029.
Compared with the 395 Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Hospitals with inpatient beds (2020 data), public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area, high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores. Many Tokyo junior high students attend private schools, so junior high catchments are only a guide.
Maps show the shops and the sights. What a street is like, you only know by walking it. TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn each area's street environment and everyday convenience into something you can compare. Search an address and look at the street outside first.
How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. Street environment scores use AI assessments of imagery; convenience scores use public facility data.
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