都庁前
Tochōmae

(in front of the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government Building)

The etymology of the place name is straight forward. 都 to means “metropolis” – a kind of “super prefecture.” 庁 chō means office. 前 mae means front. This is the name of the Tōkyō Metropolitan Government Building.

The TMG Building is quite impressive. It’s a massive 48 floor skyscraper that splits into 2 towers at the 33^rd floor. On the 45^th floor of each tower there are observation decks which are free to the general public. From here, you can see Tōkyō Tower, Tōkyō Skytree, and Mt. Fuji. 新宿中央公園 Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Shinjuku Central Park is nearby. It’s a nice park, but not an historical park as far as I know. It’s a popular destination for office workers and government employees on their lunch breaks. The park is also known for its cherry blossoms in the spring. I’ve never gone to there for 花見 hanami cherry blossom viewing, but I imagine it’s not very crowded since this is a business and administrative area, not residential. So if you want a secret hanami spot, Shinjuku Central Park is as good a place as any.

西新宿五丁目
Nishi-Shinjuku Go-chōme

(West Shinjuku, 5^th Block)

OK, sorry. There’s nothing here, really. 新宿熊野神社 Shinjuku Kumano Jinja Shinjuku Kumano Shrine is located a short distance from the station. The shrine isn’t very famous, but it’s located on the grounds of Shinjuku Central Park, so if you visit the park, you can see it anyways. As far as shrines go, it’s pretty typical.

As I said in the last post and in the beginning posts, the Ōedo Line is kind of a loop. Once it loops around, it spends a lot of time in Shinjuku.

Here are my other posts about Shinjuku:

• Read more about Shinjuku

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