Shinjuku Itinerary: Gyoen to Golden Gai

We split Shinjuku into three phases, each with its own timing. (For more on how timing shapes Tokyo tours, see best time of day for Tokyo private tours.)

Afternoon: Shinjuku Gyoen (closes 4-5:30pm)

Shinjuku Gyoen is one of Tokyo's best gardens, 58 hectares laid out in three different design styles. It closes at 5:30pm in summer and 4pm in winter, so go in the afternoon.

The three traditions sit side by side inside one wall:

The mix comes from when the garden was built. The Meiji era was when Japan opened up to the world, and putting Western and Japanese design together in one imperial garden was deliberate.

Entry is ¥500. Closed Mondays.

6pm: When the Grills Fire

Omoide Yokocho opens at 5pm, and by 6pm the lanterns are lit and the grills are going. Eat now, before the alleys fill up.

8pm: When the Doors Unlock

Golden Gai finally opens. It's busiest from 10pm to 2am.

Here's the whole day at a glance:

For a full day that covers all three phases with a guide, see Infinite Tokyo.

Omoide Yokocho's narrow alleys hold roughly 60 places grilling yakitori, other meats, and eel over open flames.

The 6pm Window

Most places open at 5pm. The best time to arrive is 5-6pm, when the lanterns are on, the grills are hot, and you can still get a seat. By 7pm salarymen have filled the alleys and seats get scarce.

Bring cash. About 60% of the places still don't take cards.

What to Order

Many places in the alleys have a specialty:

• Kabuto: eel grilled over binchotan charcoal, many different parts of it, cooked by an owner who has been at it since 1948. Open 1pm to 8pm, closed Sundays.

• Sushitatsu: the only sushi restaurant in Omoide Yokocho. There's no printed menu; the day's fish is written on wooden planks in kanji, and it's omakase only. It's been running for over 60 years.

• Tachan: tsukune (chicken meatballs) that TimeOut called the "best in Tokyo." ¥660 an order.

• Daini Horaiya: the first motsuyaki (grilled offal) restaurant in Omoide Yokocho, opened in 1947, still using a sauce recipe that's decades old.

• Yasubee: the biggest sake list in the alleys and a little more elbow room than most. Open since 1951.

• Kameya: soba around the clock, 24 hours, with just 8 seats. Order the "Tentama soba," tempura with a soft-boiled egg.

Golden Gai packs over 200 tiny bars into six narrow alleys. About 100 of them welcome walk-in tourists. The rest are for regulars, and you only learn which is which by trying.

Why Doors Matter

Bars that post English menus and prices outside are safe bets. Others have no sign, seat four people, and let in whoever the owner decides to let in. Trying doors at random gets you turned away and eats up your evening. Tokyo Trifecta finishes in Shinjuku specifically so a guide can handle this for you.

Bars that are friendly to tourists:

• Albatross: gothic décor, chandeliers, rooftop seating, ¥500 cover, English-speaking staff. Most first-timers start here.

• Champion (also called Coin Bar): no cover charge, karaoke, sports on TV, and bigger than most Golden Gai bars.

• Kenzo's Bar: 80s music and leopard print, ¥500 cover. The owner is an actor and screenwriter, and he's very welcoming to foreigners.

• Bar Araku: no cover for foreigners, and the walls are covered in polaroids left by travelers.

• La Jetée: a cinema bar named after the 1962 French film. Tarantino and Wenders have both visited.

Anywhere with English signs, posted prices, or a menu outside is usually happy to see tourists.

The Cover Charge Trade-off

Most bars charge a ¥500-2,000 cover, typically ¥700-1,000, and it comes with a small snack of peanuts or dried fish.

Bars without a cover tend to charge more per drink. Over several rounds, a ¥500 cover with normal drink prices can work out cheaper than a "free" bar with inflated ones. It depends how long you stay.

Where Locals Actually Drink Now

In most Golden Gai bars, tourists now outnumber Japanese customers, and Tokyo residents who know the city tend to drink elsewhere.

Shimbashi: standing bars under the tracks near the Karasumori Exit. Shinshu Osake Mura in the Ekimae 1 building pours 100+ sakes from Nagano breweries, from ¥150 for 40ml, with no cover and pay-as-you-go. There are seventy bars within 200 meters of the station. For more, see Tokyo's standing bar drinking culture.

Nishi-Ogikubo: Yanagi Koji (Willow Alley), 15 minutes from Shinjuku on the Chuo Line, has over 50 bars in postwar wooden longhouses. Handsome Shokudo does Thai food and Yakitori Ebisu does ¥100 skewers. No cover charges here either. (Nearby Shimokitazawa has a similar feel with more vintage shops.)

Kichijoji has Harmonica Yokocho, one stop further west. Similar feel, more space.

Golden Gai is still worth a visit. The layout alone is unusual, with 200+ bars crammed into six alleys, some of them seating only four people. The "authentic local nightlife" label is out of date, though. Go after 8pm, already fed, and try the doors with prices posted outside.

Tokyo Trifecta starts at Meiji Shrine and ends in Shinjuku at 6pm, timed so you reach Omoide Yokocho as the grills fire and Golden Gai as the doors unlock. Your guide knows which bars welcome tourists and does the talking about cover charges.

At Hinomaru One, we design private Tokyo tours for first-time and returning travelers, at an easy pace and built around what you want to see.