Shinjuku-dori between two Marunouchi Line stations, with the lanes of Arakicho and the homes of Funamachi and Samoncho to the north and Shinjuku Gyoen along the south
The Marunouchi Line runs beneath Shinjuku-dori, and it's about a 10-minute walk between Yotsuya-sanchome Station and Shinjuku-gyoen-mae Station. Yotsuya-sanchome Station sits right at the intersection of Shinjuku-dori and Gaien-higashi-dori, and there's a free-to-visit Fire Museum next to the intersection. The main roads are lined with office buildings on both sides, but once you turn into the back lanes, you find residential areas. The Araki-cho neighbourhood to the north is shaped just like a mortar, sloping downward toward the centre, with small eating and drinking spots tucked away in narrow alleyways.
Public transport ranks 14th among Tokyo's 155 neighbourhoods. From Yotsuya-sanchome it's about 4 minutes on the Marunouchi Line to Shinjuku, and from Shinjuku-gyoen-mae you can reach Tokyo Station in about 16 minutes without transferring. Daily convenience ranks 26th, and you can walk to the big shopping centres around Shinjuku-sanchome. The southern edge of the neighbourhood borders nearly 800 metres of Shinjuku Gyoen, so weekend strolls don't require taking transit.
There are lots of slopes and stairs, especially noticeable around Araki-cho. Many of the alleyways are one-way streets, so if you're driving and don't know the area, you'll get turned around. Shinjuku Gyoen is right next door, but the street photos we took are of streets within the neighbourhood itself, and green space only ranks 94th among the 155 neighbourhoods.
Today's Yotsuya-yonchome intersection is where the shogunate set up the Yotsuya Okido checkpoint on the Koshu-kaido in 1616; anyone entering Edo from the Koshu-kaido had to pass through here. In 1653, a water inspection station for the Tamagawa Canal was added nearby; the water ran in an open channel before reaching here, then travelled underground through wooden and stone pipes into Edo Castle. Araki-cho was once the estate of Matsudaira Settsu-no-kami, lord of the Takasu domain; legend says Tokugawa Ieyasu (another account says it was the daimyo Matsudaira Yoshiyuki) once washed his riding whip in a pond in the garden, which became known as Muchi-no-ike ("whip pond") and survives, much reduced, at Tsunokami Benzaiten. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, this area became a geisha district, with 252 geisha at its peak. The Suga Shrine in Suga-cho is said to have been relocated here from Akasaka in 1634 due to the construction of the outer moat of Edo Castle.
Compared with the 155 Tokyo neighbourhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
75 blocks · Curated boundary · Data version 2026-10-02
Compared against the Tokyo neighbourhoods in this guide; metrics without enough data are not ranked. Shopping counts convenience stores plus the nearer of a supermarket or a traditional market (public and private retail markets); night markets, vendor zones and shopping-street shops are not counted. Transit is rail-first with a lower weight for buses.
TidyMap rates the street environment and everyday convenience. It does not assess the home itself, safety, noise or actual living experience. About data limits
The apartment looks good. What about the street? TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn nearby convenience and the street environment into something you can compare. Search an address you're considering to see the neighborhood around it.
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.
Content is for personal browsing. Official TidyMap neighborhood cards may be shared as generated; anyone using one commercially is responsible for their own compliance (sharing guidelines). Bulk extraction, APIs and dataset redistribution require a data licence — email us. This site uses Google Analytics and Cloudflare Analytics.